XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Monday, January 23. Today’s theme is conforming and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming — It seems that multi-player game action may be more important that extra bells and whistles like playing movies and music. The Nintendo DS still leads Sony’s PSP in sales after 1 year in spite of the predictions by many. And, what makes good games better? Good writing and strong story.

• Blogging, Podcasting, and Vodcasting — The medical profession was an innovator in podcasting and now they are finding practical applications for vodcasting. Hospitals are starting to hand out video iPods to patients so that they can access healthcare information.

• Handhelds – Some good advice is starting to surface for publishers hoping to monetize podcasting. Also, here’s an interesting concept — in order to deal with illiteracy throughout the world, one major cell phone maker envisions a future where all basic-level phones feature “text-free” functionality that allows users to manipulate all aspects of the phone via images. Finally, have you checked out the new iSee video recorder for the iPod?
• Social Networks –
  With the popularity of social network sites like MySpace.com, others, like AOL, are wondering how they can leverage existing tools to get in on the action. The problem with this, as some have pointed out, is that social networks thrive on a sort of chaos that’s anathema to established companies like AOL.

Now, here’s a recap of our favorite posts from the edublogging community from the past 48 hours.

• From Paul Chenoweth : Post on generational perspectives on adopting classroom technology.
• From EdTechTalk: Post on Wikis for Textbooks Project part 2.
• From Jeremy Hiebert : Post on the revolution of learners as contributors.
• From Ulises Mejias : Post asking what is social about social software.
• From Rob Wall: Post on teaching binary using the Socratic method.
• From Stephen Downes: Post on with audio links to his 2-day, informative seminar at Edson, Alberta.
• From Will Richardson: Post on teachers as learners.