Language Learning Technology International (LLTI) is a listserv created and moderated by Otmar Foelsche of Dartmouth College. LLTI has become the principal means of information exchange among those interested in language learning technology. All contributions are archived. Highlights of the discussions appear regularly in the IALLT Journal. (from IALLT website)

Tomorrow's Professor, the excellent mailing list  sponsored by the Stanford University Center for Teaching and Learning  considers this week a variety of learning activities that can be done with laptops in the classroom. The post excerpts Chapter 1: "Laptops in the Class: What Are They Good For? What Can You Do with Them?" from Barbara E. Weaver and Linda B. Nilson's New Directions for Teaching and Learning no. 101: Enhancing Learning with Laptops in the Classroom (John Wiley & Sons, 2005). The authors state "The real question requires more elaboration: What can we do with laptops in class that (1) has genuine learning value for students (is interactive, participatory, experiential, or hands-on) and (2) cannot be done as well or at all without a laptop, at least not in class? In fact, many of the laptop activities suggested here could be done as homework on any kind of Internet linked computer. So why not just assign computer activities to be done out of class and forget about laptops?" They answer their question with 8 solid suggestions for types of activities that effectively use laptops in the classroom.

Lorcan Dempsey points us to an important draft report from the
Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control that emphasizes the crucial need to enable smart connections between currently separate silos of cataloging. Here's the heart of the project:

Different communities of bibliographic practice have grown up around different resource types: library collections of books and journals, archives, journal articles, and museum objects and images. As these resources and others become increasingly accessible through the Web, separation of the communities of practice that manage them is no longer desirable, sustainable, or functional. Bibliographic control is increasingly a matter of managing relationships—among works, names, concepts, and object descriptions—across communities. Consistency of description within any single environment, such as the library catalog, is becoming less significant than the ability to make connections between environments: Amazon to WorldCat to Google to PubMed to Wikipedia, with library holdings serving as but one node in this web of connectivity. In today's environment, bibliographic control cannot continue to be seen as limited to library catalogs. [Report on the Future of Bibliographic Control PDF]

Move over Guitar Hero.   This is a story of the reconstruction of a small piece of social and musical history in Oakland, California on NPR of all places.  It's a great idea, but hopefully the virtual reality is smoother than the clip included here.  Just imagine something like this merged with XBox; now that would be something really fun.

We've all learned the hard way about the trouble with technology for technology's sake. But what about the fate of learning for learning's sake?  Boria Sax's recently published Learning the Love of Learning: Newman's Ideal Updated  looks squarely at the tradition of learning for learning's sake, and finds reason to not abandon this seemingly quaint ideological position. As part of Liberal Arts On-Line, a series from the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College that looks at various--and at times competing--issues and ideas surrounding what people mean when they say 'liberal education' or 'liberal learning,' Sax's essay provides a quick romp through 2,000 years of educational history, defending the oft-attacked irrelevance of arcane scholarly pursuit from both the pragmatists who want to see what it can do to improve the world beyond the Ivory Tower, and the deconstructionists, who see worrisome dragons within the idealist claims that knowledge is an end in itself. What I had hoped for (given Sax's authority in the world of on-line learning) was both a critique of how technology might be excacerbating the problems caused by disciplinary super-specialization, and also how it might help to re-build what he calls 'the village square' function in cyberspace.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting that Apple Computer is releasing iTunes U (http://www.apple.com/education/solutions/itunes_u/), a service that allows colleges and universities to record, upload, and store course lectures in Apple's popular iTunes Music Store.  The Chronicle article is available to non-subscribers and reports that colleges can customize their iTunes U site with school colors and logos.  Stored lectures can be made public or restricted to certain groups.  Access to lectures can be controlled using existing college user ID's and passwords.

LiberalArtsOnline is the monthly publication of the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts  at Wabash College, the sponsor of Academic Commons. LiberalArtsOnline  promotes inquiry and reflection on liberal arts education. Published essays advocate for, critique, debate, reimagine, and challenge the virtues and relevance of liberal arts education.  

LITA is a division of the American Library Association, and draws members from across the spectrum of libraries represented by the ALA (public, special, academic, etc.). The LITA blog launched shortly before the 2005 ALA Annual conference, and has already yielded a number of detailed posts covering conference programs and meetings.

Library and Information Science News. "LISNews is a collaborative weblog [aka blog] devoted to current events and news in the world of Library and Information Science." (from the LISNews About page)