Old computers
Originally uploaded by eurleif.

This blog is brand-spanking new, hence the reason why there are no posts here yet. I plan on remedying this situation in the very near future. But until then please pay no mind to the dust.

To provide a brief background, I’ve worked in educational technology for 5 years now, and have been an avid blogger and empassioned social software user in my private life for the last 2 years. I gladly experiment with every application I come across and have adapted many to suit my personal needs on an ongoing basis – be they intellectual, socio-political, family-oriented, or purely for entertainment purposes. Up until now my use of technology in each of these two areas was mutually exclusive to a large degree, however to my immense pleasure and joy this division is becoming increasingly blurred. Therefore the time has finally come to distinguish professional from personal and start a second blog.

Given the recent – sometimes controversial – changes in and to higher education in Australia, the exponential growth of innovation in the Internet realm, the tremendous drive towards user-generated content and collaboration, and the seemingly endless demand for new technology by today’s users, it should come as little surprise that Australian universities have finally begun to take note of these new tools and trends – though at times it seems some of them are indoctrinated kicking and screaming all the while.

The Internet we see today is dynamically different to what it was 10 or even 5 years ago. Flow of information has broken from the largely one-directional model created by the duopoly of static web page content and large barriers to dissemination, and has instead evolved into a incredibly diverse, dynamic, and multi-directional ecosystem. New tools and applications are emerging virtually weekly; new terminology and catch phrases developing just as quickly; success stories rising and falling overnight; and new applications taking centre stage for their 15 minutes of fame. It is exceptionally difficult for the average person to keep up with it all.

Indeed for those of us involved in the industry it can be just as difficult – if not more so – to interpret current events, particularly when trying to distinguish a “flash in the pan” from something with legitimate long-term staying power. Nonetheless as a researcher it is my responsibility and indeed passion to stay abridged on what is happening with the Web, analyse trends, evaluate applications and particularly to assess their relevance to learning and teaching.

The latter is the primary underlying theme for this blog as I see it today – to evaluate and document trends in Internet technology and assess how they may be used to benefit and advance learning and teaching. It stands to reason then that a great deal of attention will be devoted to the analysis and presentation of new technologies, as well as the synthesis of emerging research findings. Truthfully I wouldn’t have it otherwise.

Therefore with that said, I officially declare this blog open for business.