learning | Liam O'Donnell

Three newly releasesd books to tackle online bullying in your classroom

by liam | Aug 8, 2013 | education, literacy, Teacher's Guide

I fill many roles in my daily life: children’s writer, digital games-based-learning critic and advocate and virtual world community manager and finally elementary school teacher. The recent tragic events of children taking their own lives because of online...

Seeing E-books from three sides: why writers, readers and teachers win

by liam | Jul 10, 2013 | comics, education, literacy, media, writing news

If you haven’t already noticed, e-books have kinda knocked the whole publishing industry on its head. I haven’t written much about those changes around here, but I think about it a lot. That’s because I’m in the lucky position to see these...

Alternative Texts in Schools: Future of Videogames = History of Comics

by liam | Jun 29, 2013 | comics, education, gamebasedlearning, gaming, literacy, media, Teacher's Guide, video games

I spent much of June talking to teachers and other folks about video games in schools. I spoke about play and alternative texts with amazing educators at the recent 2013 COCA Retreat. And I had a blast at the Academy of the Impossible talking digital learning and...

Writing Comics Workshop for Kids Session 2: Creating Characters

by liam | May 11, 2013 | appearances, comics, education, literacy, Teacher's Guide, writing news

I recently ran a four week Writing Comics Workshop for young writers at the amazing Toronto Public Library. Each Saturday, I met with 25 creators aged 8 – 12 years and we went through the steps to writing our own comics. We focused on using words to create story...

From the Vault: My interview with James Paul Gee from 2004

by liam | Apr 19, 2013 | comics, education, gaming, literacy, media, Teacher's Guide, video games, virtual worlds

Back in 2003, I was a struggling freelance writer with a few graphic novels for kids under my belt. I was pitching articles to magazines, playing a lot of video games and wondering if a career in teaching was for me. That was also when I stumbled upon a newly released...