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Happy new year, or bliadhna mhath ùr!

2009 is set to be a really exciting year here in Learning, and for education in Scotland more widely. 2008 was a great year, with big launches for us including the L.A.B., China Stories (continually developing, and still with the MyChina site to launch fully), the Scotland's History website (including Lost Penny, in which I seem to have become a fixture) and Learning Zone Scotland. We've got some great stuff up our sleeves for 2009, though - I'll be writing new developments on our resources as they happen on this blog, so watch this space.

The end of January will see the transmission of two new programmes called New Lives, New Landscapes. These are aimed at in the first instance, but we think that in true fashion that they will have a life in other subject areas too. The target level is equally flexible, and as with so many of our new resources, the intention is that sparky and innovative teachers will use them in all kinds of ways - ways that we haven't even thought of yet! The films will focus on four distinct topics: Dundee; cottage industries; Grangemouth and business parks. There's potential in there for sustained use in geography, history and modern studies, but there are also sections on business that would be useful in teaching .

The film is a great example - in ten minutes we go from the to the , covering the changing landscape and work of a city. The programmes are narrated by , of Extras and fame, and we think that they could be used for years to come. And if you miss their network transmission, never fear! The content will be stored in our Learning Zone for posterity.

I'm going to be out and about over the coming weeks, visiting schools and I'll be attending the on the 15th and 16th of January, so maybe I will have a chance to meet some of you who are using the homepage and the resources. I'll be blogging on what I've been up to, so if you see me, stop me and tell me what you think.

Image: Tay Bridge by Brian Carr from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland's Tayside and Central Scotland pages.