SHerene Ng

In March 2013, Sherene Ng, a recent graduate of the Early Childhood Studies program (Fall 2012), received a $54K FedDev Science and Engineering in Business Fellowship to start a business to commercialize a prototype that began as an idea during her 4th year internship. She was placed at the Experiential Design and Gaming Environments (EDGE) Lab, where she learned about adaptive design. Adaptive design is a process for creating custom adaptations to meet the specific needs of a user.

With support from Dr. Jason Nolan, Assistant Professor, ECS and Director of the EDGE Lab and Rubina Quadri, a part-time undergraduate (ECS) and her field educator, she worked on creating an assistive device for people with low vision. Vlad Cazan, a Lab Technician at the EDGE Lab, helped her with the electronics for the prototype. The device is a wearable shoe sensor that vibrates to alert users when objects are in their walking path. The goal is to minimize tripping hazards and falls for people who may not be able to detect the objects on their own.

Moving forward, Sherene and Rubina will work closely to start up a business to commercialize adaptive design with the shoe sensor. Although Sherene never imagined that she would be an entrepreneur after graduating from the ECS program, she is grateful for the skills and knowledge she gained during her 4 years at Ryerson, which have enabled her to understand and identify needs for people with disabilities.

…read more.

Ryerson just put out a press release about the EDGE Lab/Phantom Compass partnership.

TORONTO, March 13, 2013 —- Ryerson University’s pioneering Experiential Design and Gaming Environments (EDGE) Lab has partnered with leading Toronto game development studio Phantom Compass. The partnership brings EDGE Lab’s world-class academic research and the creative industry know-how of Phantom Compass together, facilitating commercialization of the Lab’s applied research projects while enhancing the effectiveness of the studio’s desktop, mobile and tablet game products. EDGE Lab and Phantom Compass have already started sharing experience, best practices, and state- of-the-art technology to study how children learn while playing games and how to use that knowledge to better engage children in learning at school…. [read more]

EDGE researcher Melanie McBride is cited in the prologue of Will Richardson‘s new book, Why School (published by TED Books). From the Amazon description:

In ‘Why School?,’ educator, author, parent and blogger Will Richardson challenges traditional thinking about education — questioning whether it still holds value in its current form. How can schools adjust to this new age? Or students? Or parents? In this provocative read, Richardson provides an in-depth look at how connected educators are beginning to change their classroom practice. Ultimately, ‘Why School?’ serves as a starting point for the important conversations around real school reforms that must ensue, offering a bold plan for rethinking how we teach our kids, and the consequences if we don’t.

Education Leadership: Will Richardson at TEDx Melbourne

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.

The Evidence Exchange Network (EENet) newsletter features EDGE Lab Alumni Dr. Yukari Seko. Yukari is presently CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow at Social Aetiology of Mental Illness program at CAMH. Her project is Exploring Motivations for Creating Self-injury Content Online

If you are thinking about attending Ryerson or are just curious about what programs are offered, check out the 2013 handbook.

Here’s a link to the Faculty of Community Services programs and the Early Childhood Studies page featuring EDGE Lab Director, Jason Nolan.

Lab director, Jason Nolan, is featured in the Pulse: heath research and innovation at Ryerson university (page 33).

EDGE Lab featured on Fairchild Television.

EDGE Lab researchers Melanie McBride and Noah Kenneally presented together at the TIFF Nexus: New Media Literacies conference last April 12. Their talk, “Escaping the Creepy Treehouse: Whose games? Whose play?”, examined the role of ‘adultism’ in the conceptualization, design and social relations produced by adult-developed digital and offline playspaces.

TDSB Teacher/Librarian, award winning children’s author, and research collaborator with the EDGE Lab has a great post on projects for teachers this summer. Check out his books as well!