Desktop and web widgets are handy little things providing computer users with instantly available functions ranging from clocks to calenders to calculators to mention but a few of the more mundane applications.

Combining simplicity with versatility, widgets have captured the imagination of TENCompetence researchers at the University of Bolton's Institute of Educational Cybernetics who are looking for ways to integrate chat and voting facilities into Learning Design runtime tools. 

On 8th November 2006 the IMS LD Summit was held at the OUNL in the Netherlands. The summit provided an update on the latest uses of the IMS LD specification, and a chance to get input from IMS on their view of the future. There was also an open market were participants could have a close look at applications which use the specification.

The event was opened by Rob Abel, the CEO of IMS Global Learning, who provided an IMS Global Learning Consortium Overview. He stressed IMS's enduring purpose to promote innovation, adoption and learning. The stress on adoption was related to an announcement that the regular IMS Alt-i-lab conference will now be called Learning Impact, and will host the an Awards and Recognition Program, which will showcase effective use of IMS specifications. The first conference in the new

Recent trends in employment and economic development coupled with advances in technology have highlighted the need for a more flexible and knowledgeable workforce. With lifelong learning increasingly being seen as a prerequisite to a career path that will typically span in excess of forty years, the EU is backing the TENCompetence project (The European Network for Lifelong Competence Development).