Abstract
The maintenance of military aircraft is complex and exhaustive, requiring an accurate training program. This process is not fault tolerant and requires certification renewal periodically. Furthermore, the process involves many professionals and resources, requiring phases of maintenance and verification of the tasks. Cooperation between professionals in the overall process is essential and requires strong team coordination. It is a highly costly process, since aircrafts are scarce and their readiness is essential for missions, and it requires a scheduling effort between all team members and aircrafts. The availability of tools that allow intensive training without aircraft presence is an asset to the maintenance squadrons. Virtual worlds have simulation and collaboration capabilities to implement this process. This paper presents a software architecture developed for training engine maintenance squadrons for certification, using virtual worlds platforms. This architecture is being tested in cooperation with the Portuguese Air Force and an engine maintenance squadron of F-16 aircrafts.

Abstract
Nowadays it is possible to disseminate information to the all world in real time using current communication tools supported mostly by the Internet. The work of several organizations reporting a multitude of problems that our society faces can be sustained by participatory platforms, which stimulate the collaboration of participants all over the world. In this paper we present a technological platform that provides a shared environment for collaborative social activism. We adapted the platform to a particular organization, Machsom Watch that reports human rights abuses in Israelis checkpoints. Finally we present some preliminary results obtained by ethnographic research using the developed platform.

Abstract
This paper presents a novel approach to teaching and learning computer programming, using the three-dimensional virtual world Second Life (R) to develop a programming community of practice. Our students have developed their programming projects as part of this community as an alternative way of learning. The learning of programming is a difficult process, with many students experiencing difficulties which result in high levels of failure in introductory programming courses. In this paper, we describe and analyse how this approach spurred students' motivation and interest in learning programming. We also present observations on the difficulties felt by both students and teachers in the development of projects and activities, and discuss the approaches taken to overcome those difficulties.

Abstract
Nowadays a growing number of research and projects emphasize a culture of childhood that sees the child as an active participant in social life and, in particular, in the planning and decision processes of the spaces where they live most of their time. Under these projects children are asked to have a direct role on the configuration of several spaces, such as public and school playgrounds. This paper refers to a work in progress where a version control system for a multiuser virtual world is being developed to address some of the challenges that this kind of task and participants bring. Particularly this tool is being designed and prototyped to foster children's involvement in primary school activities where a class participation and consensus are requested on the several school spatial configurations.

Abstract
Serious games are playing an increasing role as educational tools and the last decade witnessed a growing number of proposals in this field. One of the major challenges of the current European societies is to foster an entrepreneurial interest in young people, and the European Commission has been promoting projects that pursue this objective. This chapter presents one such project, PLAYER, in which an educational game was implemented in Facebook with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship by guiding young people in the definition of a business proposal. The game encompasses 4 stages that include the basic description of the business idea, the characterization of its strategies, the filling of a funding quiz, the SWOT analysis, and finally the production of a detailed business plan, for those players to be able to reach the final stage of the game. © 2012, IGI Global.

Abstract
Gathering field data from crisis areas requires overcoming a major technical hurdle: infrastructures and terminals for Internet access are non-existent or unreliable. Teams of professionals acting on the field lack a cost-effective, convenient way to provide their data to central management headquarters and the worldwide public in a timely manner. Cell-phone software can be leveraged to bridge this. Using cellphone applications, people living or working in low-tech areas can provide their knowledge worldwide, taking full advantage of georeferenced functionalities. In this paper we present the prototype of a platform based on a wiki+map server backbone for direct information entry, query, and editing, by people on the field using cell-phones, with strong version management. This georeferenced information can then be visualized centrally for tackling development/crisis issues, such as drought problems, outbreaks of diseases, etc. - giving NGOs and governments a better framework upon which to act.