Gaming the imagination: counterpublics and the contestation of symbolic production is a video that addresses the political ramifications of the shift in production of videogames for oppositional groups known as ‘Counterpublics’ . What do these groups, and their contestation of who gets to be in control of symbolic production mean for society today? It is a digital report from the Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, York University, and the EDGE Lab at Ryerson produced and narrated by Lab RA Daniel Joseph. Enjoy.

GAMING THE IMAGINATION: COUNTERPUBLICS AND THE CONTESTATION OF SYMBOLIC PRODUCTION from Daniel Joseph on Vimeo.

GamingEdus is a project hosted at the EDGE Lab, and we’re happy that it has lit the way into the next year.

The Watchers teaches online privacy literacy skills to kids.

“Rather than teaching children to memorize ways they can avoid “stranger danger,” the game facilitates the development of autonomous privacy decision making skills.”

EDGE Lab researcher Melanie McBride was recently invited to give a lecture at University of Toronto’s iSchool as part of their 2012 Colloquium Series. Her talk,“Beyond -fications: The hidden and null curriculum of digital learning and play” was an overview of her lab research and MA coursework on gamification and informal game-based learning under the supervision of Jason Nolan.

Check out the Minecraft Club Hub , home of the Toronto District School Board / EDGE Lab Multi-School Minecraft Space!

The Club Hub is a wiki set up for the students involved in the Minecraft Clubs at three TDSB schools.

EDGE Lab’s graduate student Melanie McBride was quoted in an article by Will Richardson entitled “Preparing Students to Learn Without Us” on the ASCD site (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development).

Mr. Richardson refers to Melanie’s paper, The Right to Learn (Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, 2011):

‘We need to shift our thinking from a goal that focuses on the delivery of something—a primary education—to a goal that is about empowering our young people to leverage their innate and natural curiosity to learn whatever and whenever they need to. The goal is about eliminating obstacles to the exercise of this right—whether the obstacle is the structure and scheduling of the school day, the narrow divisions of subject, the arbitrary separation of learners by age, or others—rather than supplying or rearranging resources. (p. 6)’

Ryerson alumnus Liam O’Donnell is an elementary school teacher for the Toronto District School Board. He recently wrote about his experience of creating a multiplayer Minecraft server that spanned across 3 schools using server space at the EDGE Lab.

“After realizing the deep, meaningful connection the game had made with some of my former students, I just had to introduce it to a new batch of kids. But this time I wanted to do something a little bigger. Already, I had used Minecraft to engage a small group of students who came to me for literacy support. Minecraft was the ideal game to let their imaginations and writing abilities go wild. From strategy guides to avoiding Creepers to documenting their scientific inquiry into the results of lava-water collisions, the results were impressive. I had to do it again. But this time, I really wanted to put the multiplayer into the game. This time, I’d have one new world but 30 students, from across 3 different schools: A Multi-School Minecraft Server.”

EDGE Lab Graduate student Melanie McBride will be presenting at the iSchool Colloquium Series at the University of Toronto on Thursday April 19, 2012. The session takes place at 140 St. George St., Room 728 between 4 – 6 p.m. If you would like to hear Melanie speak about the ‘hidden’ and ‘null’ curriculum of digital gaming and play, click here here for more details.

EDGE Lab RA Vlad Cazan presented the Button Masher at the TIFF Nexus Locative Media Day on Oct, 28th, 2011. It is a single or two player interactive tactile experience consisting of two devices each with 30 LED-embedded buttons and multiple game modes. Games range from Snake-like game play, reaction based two player games and a strategy game similar to Othello. The size and nature of the device create an experience you cannot find with traditional controllers. Devices like the iPad are too small and the Kinect lacks the tactile response.

The Peripherals Initiative – Button Masher

Daniel, Mel, & Jaime talking games in the EDGE Lab.