literacy | Liam O'Donnell

NASA seeking info on educational mmos

by liam | Jan 18, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

[via Virtual World News] NASA sees potential for virtual worlds as learning environments. The organization has just announced a Request for Information about developing an massively multiplayer online learning game. This is what I was talking about when I asked...

My Tiny Life set free

by liam | Jan 17, 2008 | literacy, media

[via terra nova] Jullian Dibble, author of the fantastic Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot is releasing his first book My Tiny Life as a free pdf under a Creative Commons license (you can also buy a version tied up with...

TV ubiquitous for UK kids

by liam | Jan 16, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, media

“The flickering of the screen accompanies most of them before they go to school, when they return home, as they consume their evening meal and then – for 63%, far more than read a book each day – in bed at night. The study of five- to 16-year-olds...

Can educational virtual worlds for kids work?

by liam | Jan 15, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

Since the proven success of Club Penguin, there’s been a wave of new virtual worlds for kids going into beta or being announced. Lego just announced they’re planning one for 2009. Buildabear.com hauled in a million users in just a month. Planet Cazmo is in...

Getting epistemic with your games

by liam | Jan 11, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

As many teachers will tell you, one of the biggest challenges of teaching is keeping students engaged in the stuff they’re supposed to be learning. Students get bored, drift off, the learning ceases and classroom management begins. There are many valid reasons...