gaming | Liam O'Donnell

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...

Gaming for education, but for who?

by liam | Oct 15, 2007 | education, gaming, literacy, media, virtual worlds

I’m always excited when the latest edition of Futurelab’s newsletter lands in my inbox, and this week’s is no exception. Lots of good stuff inside if you’re interested learning about the places technology can take education. Visit their site or...

Dealing with gamer regret

by liam | Sep 23, 2007 | gaming

I’ve been busy as a . . . um one of these lately, so I haven’t had much time for gaming, but I have had plenty of experience with what Clive Thompson calls Gamer Regret. The dirty secret of gamers is that we wrestle with this dilemma all the time....