Travians is an online game simulating life as a villager. From the Travians website:

Travians is a browser game in which you rise to the challenge of everyday life as a villager. This means more than just specializing in your occupation, building your own home or deciding whether you enjoy games more than fighting: The most important thing is communication within the huge village community. This is the only way to get fun clubs and strong guilds. Become a Travian and experience a whole new online world!

Sounds fun and might be worthwhile incorporating into Social Studies, especially at the elementary level. Most intriguing, however, is the focus on communication and collaboration. How great is it to incorporate critical 21st century learning skills into a game that kids like to play – and they’ll also learn some history content all at the same time?

For more in-depth info on Travians, follow Wes Fryer – or more accurately, his 10-year-old son who will provide background, explanations, and more information through his podcasts.

On Tuesday, The Christian Science Monitor announced that it is abandoning paper and moving to an online only version (although they will continue to publish a weekly magazine). For anyone who has read Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody, this comes as no surprise. He clearly documents why journalists and publishers will be subjected to ruthless change in their industry as the costs and complications of publishing dwindle to zero.

For educators, this is a clear sign that “21st century literacy skills” are more relevant than ever. That phrase is entering hackneyed status, but the notion is clear: more and more young people are reading digital type over print versions. Students’ desire to get their news online is clear. What’s really important is that teachers embrace this as “really reading” and facilitate student ability to think critically about the material. Just because it’s published, doesn’t mean it’s true …