media | Liam O'Donnell

Levelling Up: two-digit math in kids’ video games.

by liam | Mar 22, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, media

As I move forward with my teacher education, one of the key issues I keep reading about is student disengagement. Over the past few weeks working in a grade 5 class in Toronto, I’ve seen that disengagement first hand and much of it has been my fault. Part of my...

Edu-VWs gain ground with Quest Atlantis funding

by liam | Mar 2, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

With the recent swarm of new toy-based virtual worlds for kids launching in the coming months, I was very happy to hear [via Virtual World News] that the MacArthur Foundation awarded the University of Indiana’s School of Education $1.8 million to expand their...

Thinking critically about kids VWs at OISE/UT Conference

by liam | Mar 1, 2008 | appearances, education, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

I just finished presenting Chillin’ at Club Penguin to a small but enthusiastic group at the OISE Dean’s Conference at University of Toronto. Happy to say that it went well, despite a few setting-up tech glitches (aren’t there always?) Once myself...

Talking kids’ virtual worlds at Dean’s Conference OISE/UT

by liam | Feb 28, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

Been a very hectic last few days, but I have a few minutes to let you all know that I’ll be at OISE/UT’s Dean’s raduate Conference this Saturday spreading the word about virtual worlds to educators. I’ll be part of the Critical Literacies in...

Hello Kitty Online players must sing for their beta

by liam | Feb 24, 2008 | gaming, literacy, media

Like many folks following virtual worlds for kids, I was pleasantly surprised when Sanrio announced they were to release a Hello Kitty virtual world, Hello Kitty Online. And probably like many vw folks, I signed up for a beta account. Clearly, I’m not in the...