The National Science Digital Library network of projects and organizations has been collectively thinking about how to present online library resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and research for some time. As with so many things in life, you just never know when a harmonic convergence of circumstance and events may overtake you. Educators and policy makers have watched with some amazement as most ten to twenty-somethings have jumped the fences of traditional learning to engage in quasi-educational personalized online environments that may consist of simultaneous collaborative game-playing, downloading music and videos onto hand-held digital appliances, monitoring people and places on GPS-equipped phones with ring tones that adults can’t hear, looking stuff up, polishing MySpace sites, chatting, shopping, doing homework and more.

What are they learning? And beyond that, how do they feel about what they are learning? And even further beyond that is the big question of how, or if teachers and students might interact in this new space for scholarship? Join a moderated online discussion about how to go forward here http://expertvoices.nsdl.org/webkids/, and stay tuned as we pool our collective wisdom to think better and bigger about engaging young people in online scholarship.

The implications of a perceived shift from formalized instruction and directed research into 24/7 dynamic learning environments with fuzzy boundaries impacts all knowledge brokers including companies, publishers, librarians, museums and educators at every level.

If you happen to be in Washington, D.C. on October 19 please stop in at the National Science Digital Library’s Annual Meeting to be held at the American Association for the Advancement of Science for a panel discussion entitled “Meeting Web Kids on Their Own Turf: Expanding Online Social Spaces for Scholarship.” This discussion explores different views of how we might imagine digital spaces for scholarship with leaders from publishing, educational gaming, and educational research from 10:45 a.m.-12:15. Read the full panel description here a href=”http://nsdl.comm.nsdl.org/schedule/index.php?proposal_id=5051.Please fill out the complimentary registration form at http://nsdl.comm.nsdl.org/index.php by Sept. 30.