Forget “cradle to grave”. Lifelong learning jokers are now talking about “sperm to worm”. OK, it may be humour but the expectation today is that learning can take place 247365. And that just can’t happen without ICT.
Which is why this issue of Online looks at some of the first indications of this trend.
Professor Stephen Heppell kicks off with an enlightening glimpse of early developments (page 10) while other writers check out what’s available for pupils who don’t, or can’t, go to school; the allure of handhelds for “always-on” learning; and what might follow national technology agency Becta’s impressive Communications Aids Project which has done a lot to extend expression to learners with special needs.
We’re getting to know so much about learning and technology that even games are edging within reach of the classroom, as Angela McFarlane reports (page, 16-17) from the international E3 conference in Los Angeles. And the hardware is making it easier too. Even the icon of cool, the iPod, is being press-ganged into service to spread the learning message thanks to the latest techno revolution, Podcasting (page 28).
And there’s a welcome chance to win yourself an award-winning new projector, the InFocus LP600 (page 25).
Merlin John, editor
