teaching | Liam O'Donnell

Take a tour of the GamingEdus Minecraft server for educators

by liam | Jul 17, 2012 | education, gamebasedlearning, media, Teacher's Guide, video games, virtual worlds

In addition to writing books and teaching kids with Minecraft, I also run a Minecraft server for educators called GamingEdus. With the help of a group of amazing colleagues, we’ve set up this server to be a fun, safe online space for educators to come explore...

Play, Build & Explore: Three projects for teachers this summer

by liam | Jul 10, 2012 | education, gamebasedlearning, gaming, literacy, media, Teacher's Guide

As week two of the summer vacation kicks in here in Ontario, I’ve been thinking of ways I can enjoy myself, while growing as an educator. I’ve come up with 3 projects I’m going to try before school returns in September. I’m encouraging others...

Teacher’s Guide: Five websites to keep students reading this summer

by liam | Jun 20, 2012 | education, literacy, media

Summer vacation is just around the corner and teachers and librarians are freaking out. It has nothing to do with lost books or late report cards. It has everything to do with reading. After spending months working to get students into the habit of reading, myself and...

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...