Bits of Honey

This was another quiet week, but there appeared to be a flurry of activity around the start of the new year. Much of the discussion surrounded year-end summaries as well as predictions for 2009. Here are just a handful of topics that made it to the cyberwaves...

Education, Elearning & Virtual Worlds

• "Schools do not teach the spark of creativity-[they] provide the tools for students to capitalize on that spark." http://tinyurl.com/7rvkl6
• "Classrooms of the future will certainly include a virtual component." http://tinyurl.com/6t464v
• Virtual world research pt. 1:" When a game comes to life, is life still a game?" http://tinyurl.com/9dosmw
• Virtual world research pt. 2: "Virtual worlds are like the utopian communes and artistic movements of the 1960s." http://tinyurl.com/9agg85
• The Metaverse Journal's virtual world top 10 predictions for 2009. http://tinyurl.com/95vz2v
• Ten e-tools for learning we may hear more about in the coming year. http://tinyurl.com/9fum5f
• These are a few of Jane Hart's favorite elearning things in 2008: http://c4lpt.co.uk/2008review.html
• Cyber-bullying, campus gossip, hackers, and low-cost laptops made the 2008 eSchool News Top 10 list. http://tinyurl.com/73cvhq

STEM & Geeks

• The readers have spoken. Wired's list of the top 10 sexist geeks of 2008. http://tinyurl.com/9gqt79
• Wanted: Math and science teachers. The US is "facing a dearth of future homegrown scientists and engineers." http://tinyurl.com/7ce2aj

Technology - Computers, Companies & Products

• On Jan. 15, 2009, 15,000 Microsoft employees (~17% of its total work force) may be without a job. http://tinyurl.com/9wqq4v
• Cooliris.com - "It transforms the browser into a shiny, black 3-D wall and scroll bar." http://tinyurl.com/9wccwf
• On tap for 2009: Nine hot IT skills for these cold economic times. http://tinyurl.com/a4pba4
• The move to expand the language of the web beyond English - one that would include multiple languages. http://tinyurl.com/8mehy2

Writing & Publishing

• The value of author websites: "An author is no longer a disembodied face on the back of a book jacket." http://tinyurl.com/9m38kz
• Recent publishing troubles got ya down? Try self-publishing. Here's a list of 25 tips to get you started: http://tinyurl.com/4z3wu8

And finally, this article in Friday's Telegraph (Jan. 2) borders on the ridiculous. A new primary school in the UK dropped the term "school" from its name. Why? Administrators believe that this term has negative connotations and prefers that the new structure to be known as a "place of learning." No matter what administrators call it, the name isn't what is important; rather, the key to making a school a positive place for learning revolves around the pedagogies that take place there. If the same, tired approaches are used, then calling it a place of learning does not make the lecture more exciting or unique.