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
A Social Networking System was developed for Academic Collaboration across international Projects. The system was implemented using Java Server Pages. This paper discusses the development of this software, lessons learned and it gives suggestions for further work.

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.

Abstract
There are several educational software (ES) used in the classroom environment for the teaching and learning of geometric contents that are part of the Portuguese basic education mathematics program. There are studies that show that the use of this type of artifact has a fundamental role in the behavior of students, raising, among other aspects, a greater motivation for learning mathematics. The aim of this work is to explore and describe implications for the behavior and learning of students in the 7th grade of Portuguese basic education, in face of a pedagogical practice that involves carrying out tasks using ES Plickers, in the theme similarities of the domain geometry and measurement, throughout intervention carried out. The adopted methodology presents characteristics of a quasi-experimental study. The participants were 61 students from three classes of a school in the north of Portugal, followed during eight consecutive classes. A set of tasks using Plickers, tests and a questionnaire survey were used as instruments for data collection. The results point to positive increments, at a behavioral level, as well as in the evolution of learning, in view of the use of this methodology in the classroom.