virtual worlds | Liam O'Donnell

Talking Minecraft with Teachers Teaching Teachers

by liam | Aug 23, 2011 | appearances, education, gamebasedlearning, gaming, literacy, media, video games, virtual worlds

Last May, as the school year was winding up, I took part in a great podcast over at Teachers Teaching Teachers to talk about using video games in the classroom. Lucky for you interweb peeps, you can listen to the podcast here. The show centered around the release of...

Messy learning with Minecraft

by liam | May 23, 2011 | education, gaming, literacy, video games, virtual worlds

It’s barely 9:15 in the morning and already two students have fallen down a mine shaft, one burst into flames when he swam through lava and another just killed his best friend with a pork chop. It’s going to be a messy morning but one packed with learning....

Re-starting the feed – for now

by liam | May 22, 2011 | education, gaming, literacy, video games, virtual worlds

Three years ago, I stopped blogging here for many reasons. Although I didn’t know when I’d return, I did know I’d be back sometime. That time is now. And here’s why: Since 2004, I have blogged about children’s culture and technology, from...

YES Mag features my video game math lessons

by liam | Jul 22, 2008 | education, gaming, literacy, virtual worlds

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...

Writer emerges from Azeroth with news

by liam | Jul 21, 2008 | comics, education, gaming, life, literacy, media, virtual worlds, works in progress, writing news

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...