XplanaZine

Commentary: Bill Gates
In this article and slide show, Bill Gates explains his vision on global education. At the heart is the problem of scale: of finding ways to make high-quality educational resources reach not just a handful of students in a single classroom but hundreds of millions of students around the globe. He sees technologies as the answer to this dilemma, and cites MIT’s OpenCourseware Initiative as a good example. — Globe and Mail

Social Technology As a New Medium in the Classroom
New modes of everyday communication-textual, visual, audio and video-are already part of almost every high school and college student’s social life. But can such social networking principles be effective in an educational setting? Read about how one teacher sees potential applications of social technology in the classroom. — Red Orbit

Students who fail class can take online alternative to pass
In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, students who have failed a core course they need to graduate at the district’s four high schools have been piloting a Web-based system to catch up. Juniors or seniors who cannot retake the failed course may use the PLATO system, granted they can read at least a sixth-grade level and their parents agree. — Gazette Online IA