teaching | Liam O'Donnell

My books animated & free, thanks to the Toronto Public Library

by liam | Nov 30, 2012 | comics, literacy, media, writing news

I love the public library. Not surprising, considering I’m an author AND and a teacher-librarian here in Toronto. It’s also not surprising that public libraries around the world are under attack from many sides for many reasons. One of the biggest...

Minecraft Madness and Play at ECOO 2012

by liam | Oct 27, 2012 | appearances, education, gamebasedlearning, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

Yesterday, I had the great pleasure of talking Minecraft with my two GamingEdu pals, Diana Maliszewski and Denise Colby and many, many fantastic educators at the ECOO 2012 conference. We were there presenting our talk: Playing with TNT and Other Lessons from...

Patterns holds promise for gaming educators

by liam | Oct 14, 2012 | education, gamebasedlearning, gaming, Teacher's Guide, video games

Earlier this month, Linden Lab released a very early beta-version of their new sandbox game, Patterns. Clearly inspired by Mojang, Patterns takes the block-building structure Minecraft and adds two very interesting elements: triangles and physics. I downloaded the...

Talking Power Play with Diamond Willow Award readers

by liam | Sep 30, 2012 | education, literacy, writing news

I’m incredibly honoured that my graphic novel Power Play is nominated for a 2012 Diamond Willow Award. Being one of the amazing “Tree Awards”, the winning book is chosen by the most important judges of all: the reader! Over the next few weeks,...

GamingEdus Open House & Minecraft Mayhem at Academy of Impossible

by liam | Aug 9, 2012 | appearances, gamebasedlearning, gaming, literacy, media, video games, virtual worlds

August is shaping up to be a busy month for the GamingEdus, the collective of gaming teachers I belong to. We have two big events for educators curious to learn more about using video games like Minecraft with their students. GamingEdus Server Open House Event If...