Creative Commons In 2009: The Accomplishments In Promoting Worldwide Sharing - Esther Wojcicki, Huff
Education is the pathway out of poverty and Creative Commons (CC) licensing makes it possible to share educational materials (and all creative works) online for free. Their impact worldwide is significant. The licenses allow for legal sharing of text, video, photos, audio, art, music online using one of six free licenses. The annual Creative Commons (CC) campaign is now in full swing and WhippleHill is providing a matching grant for every dollar donated. Please consider donating, even small amounts!

New Milford teachers using online learning tools to engage students - ASHLEY KINDERGAN, The Record
Teachers are getting lesson plan ideas from far-flung colleagues via Twitter. Skype conversations are being hosted in classrooms. And students are being introduced to social media and being schooled on how it can benefit them professionally. Web 2.0 isn’t just a buzzword at New Milford High School. Principal Eric Sheninger is encouraging teachers to use free interactive Web applications that he thinks can eventually improve instruction and better engage students. “Students today are digital natives,” Sheninger said. “They’re using this technology at home, so I felt, ‘Why can’t I have my teachers effectively integrate it in the classroom?”

Online Learning Services and Social Networking Tools Foster Opportunities for Community College Stud
Community colleges are using online courses, online support services and Web 2.0 social networking tools to increase learning opportunities for non-traditional students, a recently released national report on community college student engagement shows. The report, titled "Making Connections: Dimensions of Student Engagement," is produced annually by The University of Texas at Austin's Center for Community College Student Engagement. The 2009 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) includes a cohort of more than 400,000 students from 663 institutions in 48 states as well as British Columbia, the Marshall Islands, Nova Scotia and Ontario.

Study: Grandma Should Get Online - Lamont Wood, Fox Live Science
A recent study by the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies, a non-profit think-tank in Washington, DC, indicates that spending time online cuts the incidence of depression among senior citizens by at least 20 percent. The results were based on surveys of 7,000 people age 55 and older who were retired and not working, but not living in nursing homes. "Increased Internet access and use by senior citizens enables them to connect with sources of social support when face-to-face interaction becomes more difficult," said study co-author Sherry G. Ford, a professor at the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama. Hence, they are less susceptible to depressi

MU improves conversation about plagiarism through software - Genevieve Conti, Missourian
SafeAssign is just one plagiarism detection software program being used in schools to combat the problem. These programs use pattern-matching technology to compare an assignment to documents online, including databases of journals, books, newspapers and other student papers. A percentage number is displayed representing how much of the document's text matched up with text from other documents. A match doesn't necessarily mean a student has plagiarized, it is up to the instructor to determine whether it is a case of academic integrity or not.A variety of plagiarism detection programs are available online. Turnitin.com is one of the most popular, used in more than 6,500 high schools an