There was an thought provoking re-enactment of the War Of The Worlds broadcast yesterday on Twitter. The original idea came from Kris Kowal over at his Ask A Wizard blog. The full dialogue can be found at wotw2 on twitter [with an archive of material here] and the "script" was posted as a google doc.

The result was an interesting new take on the classic story and broadcast; updating the tale with the influence of modern technology ["Have you been abducted?" "Is there good mobile-phone access in those nets?"] with the role of the broadcaster/reporter played by Twitter.  What made the story more interesting was the influence of technology in its telling such as photoshopped images  and re-purposed videos

It made for an interesting evening and compelling reading; waiting to see what the night would bring.  It also made me think how useful this application could be in an academic setting.  The uniqueness of this story could have included contributions from departments of literature, rhetoric, history, broadcasting, astronomy, physics, psychology and information technology.

In a traditional classroom setting, this task my have bee a daunting task. However, via the cloud, the collaboration could have been quite enjoyable and educational for everyone involved!