Two things that helped our thinking this week.

One - this very interesting little tool called Vote Match, which takes the user through a range of statements on European policy, asking you to agree or disagree, so that you can find out how which party best suits your own views. The first thing I found, which acted as a useful reminder as a person very keen to end political party style representation, is just how little knowledge or frankly opinion I had on a number of the policy issues raised. After a bit of use it really got me thinking about just how some kind of web based voting mechanism that focused on issues  rather than parties might work. It would be tricky - no doubt about it, but it gave me faith that there may well be a way to unbind ourselves from having to represented by MPs or MEPs at all.

The other site that really got me thinking is the MacArthur digital learning site which has recently announced which projects it has awarded funds to this year. The award supports 'projects that demonstrate new modes of participatory learning, in which people take part in virtual communities, share ideas, comment on one another’s projects, and advance goals together.' - which sounds like a good measure of the kind of project we'd be interested in; and they are. There are 14 projects awarded this year and all of them look really exciting and have something different to tell us about the ways in digital tools and connectedness are completely changing the way we learn and teach. Lots of clever partnerships, useful data mash-ups, global collaboration and the use of mobiles to connect teachers and learners in different countries to improve literacy - a bit overwhelming but thoroughly inspiring stuff.
Justin

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