Odds and Ends December 20, 20009

Top Collaboration Tools

Collaboration tools have been around for awhile now but it never hurts to have a review. Mashable listed 9 document collaboration tools for teams in their blog. In the list are old standbys such as various wikis apps like PBWorks or MediaWiki. Collaborative documents such as Google Docs and Zoho Office are also mentioned. There is one new tool on the list, Google Wave but how well will this new Google entry will work remains to be seen.

Different way to learn languages

The need for students to learn new languages is a necessary skill more than ever before because of our shrinking world. Research in how game play can be used in education is ongoing. According to Tech Crunch it looks like these two things have been put together with the addictiveness of many of the Facebook games. Lingt uses gameplay to teach users how to speak Chinese with a promise of more languages to come. It they can develop phone apps then Foreign Language teachers will have a new tool to work with.

Bulls, Bears, and MULES?

Speaking of game play to teach, the economic classic game M.U.L.E. has received an update. Planet M.U.L.E., has given the classic economic education game a 21st Century makeover. This update includes the ability to play against other players online according to ARS Technica.

Kids are searching for what!?

According to Mashable, one of the top searches for kids is porn. The list of most searched for terms was compiled by Symantec. Porn was the number 4 search for 7 and under while it ranked at 6 for 13 to 18 year olds. I don’t know why porn skipped a group of kids. Other top search terms include sex, Google, Facebook, and YouTube.