Last March, I wrote the post Levelling Up: two-digit math in kids’ video games, about how I used experience points and coins in kids’ mmos like Runescape and virtual worlds like Club Penguin to teach my Grade 5 students two-digit math. Writer Cora Lee and the editors at the great kids science magazine, YES Mag, took note and have featured my experience in the article “Adding Culture to Math”, appearing in the July/August 2008 issue.

The article is a fascinating look at how math ties into cultures around the world, from First Nations culture all the way to popular culture examples like video games. That’s where I come in. Here’s a quick snippit from the article:

Liam O’Donnell, an Ontario teacher and author, looked to popular culture to help his Grade 5 class with two-digit multiplication. O’Donnell realized he could use an online roleplaying game, Runescape, to teach the concept. In Runescape, players need to use two-digit multiplication to figure out, for instance, how many experience points they earn by taking on quests, using skills, or defeating beasts.

The article goes on to give some example video game scenarios for readers to work out, which is a very cool addition to the whole piece. If you’re looking for ways to bring a new twist into math for young minds in your life, I suggest you pick up the magazine and check it out.

[Full disclosure: I’ve written for both YES Mag and KNOW Mag as a freelancer in the past. I was contacted by Cora Lee after she discovered my post on my blog. That’s it. Honest. Go ahead, look in the closet. There’s nothing there. ]

Ok, so here’s how it goes: Writer announces that he’s delving into World of Warcraft, purely for research purposes and doesn’t blog for nearly a month. A classic case of gamer widowhood? Not really (honest!) I have been busy and there is much to report. For instance:

Wild Ride has gone into its second printing AND has been picked up by the Scholastic Book Club for the 2008/09 school year. Very cool. This is first time any of my books have gone into a second printing and it’s completely due to my fantastic publisher, Orca Book Publishers, and their even more fantastic connections in the USA.

In addition to another printing, Wild Ride will also be available to school kids across North America as part of the monthly book club catalogue sent out by Scholastic. I remember being in Grade 6 and ordering the Lord of the Rings trilogy through the book club. It changed my life. I don’t think Wild Ride will have exactly the same effect on kids across America as LoTR, but it’s nice to know that a lot more of them will see the book.

Rockin’ Ramp Rats and Sneaky Soccer Sabateurs

And speaking of seeing the book, I got a chance to look at an advance copy of Ramp Rats in June and it rocks! Check out the cover at the top of this post. Michael Deas has yet again done an amazing job turning my incoherent rantings into a beautiful, action-packed graphic novel. Ramp Rats hits stores in September and I’m hoping to post a few preview pages before then.

There’s also new in the preview department: on Friday my editor sent me the pencils for Graphic Guide Adventure #3: Soccer Sabotage. This time around, Nadia is in Toronto competing in a national soccer tournament when a mysterious saboteur engineers several “accidents” throwing Nadia’s team into chaos. It’s up to Devin, Nadia and a host of new characters to solve the mystery and win the tournament. Like other GGA books, this one is packed with action and top tips on playing soccer. Mike’s pencils look amazing (as usual.) Soccer Sabotage will be published in Spring 2009.

Mad Media Making Skillz

Okay, I hear you saying: “But, Liam, that’s all news on what you’ve written. What’s been keeping you busy and away from here?” Good question! The answer? Media Makers!

Since June I’ve been busy working on the fourth book in the Graphic Guide Adventure series: Media Makers. Can’t really say much about it as the manuscript isn’t finished. But I can tell you that the characters you will meet in Ramp Rats: Bounce, Nima and Pema, all make a return and this time they’ve got another adventure on their hands. This time they’re battling the forces of corporate media and learning valuable media literacy skills along the way. They’re also learning how to “be the media”, take control of the message and become Media Makers. I’m having lots of fun with it and I think readers (and teachers) will like it too.

Leveling up my Shaman and Learning to Ride

Okay, okay, enough with the commercial, I know what you really came here to see: Kawendel, my Tauren shaman, getting his level 30 mount! Check out the video below for Kaw’s very first time riding his new Kodo mount. (He’s the one that looks like a walking bull with a big stick on his back.) Thanks to my Science guildies Drateist and Jalena for making it happen!

Look at the amazing Kodo-riding skills I’ve picked up. Haven’t I always said that all virtual worlds are educational?

Not only was yesterday Canada Day, but it was also the day I learned that Max Finder Mystery Collected Casebook Vol. 2 won a 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers in the United States.

This is the second year in a row that my Max Finder Mystery series of graphic novels has received the nod from the AEP. The Collected Casebook Vol. 1 picked up a 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award for its innovation in children’s publishing.

I’m honoured that the AEP enjoyed the second book in the Max Finder Mystery trilogy as much as it liked the first. The AEP seal of approval means a lot because it more librarians will purchase the book and more kids will get to read Max & Alison’s mysterious adventures.

Cool!

To celebrate my recent completion of my Bachelor of Education from OISE/UT, I decided to have a little fun and re-open the World of Warcraft account laying dormant on my hard drive. Part of this decision was to kick back and have some well-deserved fun, but it was also to help me with my latest (top-secret) writing project about mmos, avatars and all that online fun stuff. When I rolled up my toon, I thought I would be a warrior, rogue, or shaman. I never thought I’d become a scientist. But that is exactly what happened.

About a month before I jumped into Azeroth, I read about a group of real world scientists and academic researchers who formed a guild to investigate the scientific possibilities of virtual worlds, like WoW.

In May, their guild, appropriately named Science, held a 3 day conference in Word of Warcraft and from all the blog posts and videos it’s clear it was a success. Over three days, in a variety of locations, including a goblin-infested pirate town and the sewers beneath a city of undead scientists and researchers discussed a range of topics investigating where science can travel in these academically uncharted lands. You can read a great round-up of the conference, written by guild leader and Gonzo scientist, Gonzorinia, at Sciencemag. And be sure to watch the video podcast which shows the conference in full swing.

These were some folks that I could game with! So, I jumped into the Earthen Ring server, rolled up Kawendel, my Tauren Shaman (at left) and started on my journey of (scientific) discovery. When Kaw (as he’s now known in the guild chat – much easier to just drop the wendel when typing) was about 10th level, he ran into another character who belonged to the Science guild. After a few quick messages, I was invited to join and ever since I’ve been smashing critters and collecting herbs in the name of science.

This afternoon, the guild is hosting another get together to talk science, virtual worlds and learning. I’ll be there with my horns on ready to learn. After that, a bunch of us are planning a run through the Wailing Caverns. There’s a alchemist in Thunder Bluff who’s paying good coin for spider ichor and I wouldn’t want to let him down.

Who says learning can’t be fun?

I’m running out the door to sign at Book Expo, but I have to put up this assortment of voices denouncing Bill C-61, the new copyright law proposed by the Conservatives earlier this week. Overall, I agree that it’s bad for Canadians and fantastic for Hollywood and the American record labels. Jesse Hirsh appeared on CBC radio and explains why it’s bad in the video below:

Michael Geist has a barrel full of reasons why it’s bad and what you can do about it.

Digital Copyright Canada is on top of the recent developments and Appropriation Art has even put together 51st State, a comic book explaining the real reasons why the minority Conservative government is so eager to ram this bill through Parliament just weeks before it breaks for summer. The pdf comic is fully linked with sources that will debunk the myths about Canadian copyright that the right are using to frame this issue (like how Canada has weak copyright laws, even though Canada is ranked in the top 10 for the best Intellectual Property laws.)

But mostly, the thing that stinks about this bill is the way it’s being introduced: right at the end of this year’s session and with no consultation with ordinary Canadians.

If you own an ipod, surf the web or plan on accessing culture (ie watching movies) in the future. This bill concerns you.

Gotta run and sign some books.