A 10-week trial of a new web-based education tool in three Northern Territory primary schools stimulated an increase in the concentration and literacy skills of children struggling to read and write. The 'Abracadabra' software, supported by a $750,000 grant from the Telstra Foundation, is interactive and educational, and designed to help struggling school students aged five to eight years learn basic literacy skills which are the cornerstone for their future learning opportunities. CDU, 3 July 2008.

A new report has been launched this week which, for the first time, provides teachers and lecturers with a comprehensive guide to social networking services such as Facebook and Bebo. BECTA, 23 June 2008.

Web regulators have voted to open up the internet's domain name system to create hundreds of new website addresses, such as '.paris' or '.Pepsi', in one of the biggest shake-ups in online history. ABC News, 27 June 2008.

Researchers at the University of Western Australia are using Second Life to create online 3D worlds in which scientists can collaborate with other researchers and with students. Science Network, Western Australia. 25 June 2008.

RMIT University is using new technology to give academics and students more time for face-to-face, interactive learning. RMIT University, 25 June 2008.

The UNESCO Community on Open Educational Resources (OER) is launching an Internet discussion in order to provide input to the finalisation of an OER Toolkit, which has been created to support the development and use of Open Educational Resources. The session will take place from 16 to 27 June 2008 and will be open to everybody. More information available here http://oerwiki.iiep-unesco.org/index.php?title=UNESCO_OER_Toolkit UNESCO, 11 June 2008.

The Twomey report entitled 'If you think education is expensive' has been released in Western Australia. The Ministerial Taskforce: Education Workforce Initiatives, was developed in response to the progressive decline in the number of teachers available to work in WA. Extensive recommendations cover remuneration, leadership and mentoring, flexible learning, housing, vocational education and training, workload, and career progression.

The inaugural Awards and Medal programs form part of the of events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the passage of the first privacy legislation through the Parliament of Australia. (Office of the Privacy Commissioner, June 2008)

Baroness Susan Greenfield, one of Britain's leading brain scientists, is now expressing profound fears about the way new technology is changing our thought patterns and behaviour. In a new book, Identity: the Quest for Identity in the 21st Century, published by Sceptre, she says the challenge to our inner mental world is as big a crisis as the threat that climate change poses to our outer world. The Australian, 13 June 2008.

Many of Australia's educators are internet savvy and locked into the digital revolution, but they need more support to transform classrooms for the 21st century. Without proper support to use technology, our schools and other learning institutions risk turning off both their students and the current political momentum. These are among the key findings of a recent survey conducted by education.au, the national agency set up to support the integration of technology in teaching and learning in Australia. Believed to be the first detailed survey of the use of technology by teachers in Australia, it was designed to outline future roles and responsibilities for education.au's edna site (www.edna.edu.au), a unique and dedicated repository of thousands of online resources for education, training and research.