Purdue is pilot testing Hotseat in two classes and has become a favorite application for students and instrutors. As we all know students always talk about their classes with each other and as technology has evolved those conversations take place on Facebook, Twitter, and through text messaging. Often the 'backchannel' conversations are happening in real time in class as the instructor teachs. To capture this conversation Purdue developed a clever application called HotSeat to use it to improve students' learning, engaging them in the learning conversation.

According to a recent Aberdeen Group study sponsored in part by SilkRoad Technology, Inc., 51% of the top organizations link learning and development initiatives directly to changes in profitability and revenue.

The Sakai Foundation is seeking nominees for its third annual international Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award. Representatives from the Foundation announced next year's competition at the EDUCAUSE Conference in Denver, CO. The intent of the award is to highlight examples of innovative and transformative educational applications of Sakai.

Google's VP of Search Products and User Experience said in a blog post released this afternoon that Google will include Twitter's real-time status update in its search results. It was also reported today by Kara Swisher at All Things Digital that Microsoft has made a deal with Facebook and Twitter to include real-time feeds of status updates into the Bing search service.

Mayer wrote in the post:

We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you'll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.

The first thing that comes to my mind is how is this going to be monetized by the end user? What about privacy? If you're on FB and you're stream is limited to only friends and family will these updates be included in the real time search engine stream? My hope is it won't but its not clear at this point.

There are still many issues to be addressed in my mind. Overall it is a good thing! It brings you more business for your content, driving traffic to your site. But traffic doesn't always translate into money or sales. Still thinking about all the options - the new ways people are using the content they are creating on these third party sites like Twitter and Facebook then monetizing 'your' content - because it is 'your' content even though it is broadcast through these new mediums. Would love to hear your thoughts on the subject! Talk to me.

Math is Fun

Math is fun - at least it can be when using some of the kewl new online applications and tools. No longer are educational related activities destined to have bad graphics or sound effects and this tool proves it! Calculation Nation is a great, easy to use, quality site where you, your child/children can explore math in an entertaining, challenging setting.