About

Melanie McBride is a researcher at Ryerson University’s Experiential Design and Gaming Environments (EDGE) lab. See her About page for more information.
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Game-based learning: Keeping it real

By Melanie, on December 5th, 2010

Gamers enjoying the “retro recroom” at gamercamp

Institutional and informal game play: What’s at stake for learning?

The image above is from Gamercamp, a Toronto gaming unconference where I moderated a panel on “Play”. What I saw there and pictured above was an awesome example of truly holistic, situated, informal learning. And the [...]

“Authority” v. wikipedia (why teachers are picking the wrong fight)

By Melanie, on November 7th, 2009

Last week, one of my media course (ed PD) classmates talked about the ongoing struggle to help students make sense of the flood of information online. She cited a negative experience with wikipedia, which resulted in an energetic exchange about the merits (and challenges) with open online content.

It’s not about “authority” nor should it [...]

Smartmobs: Bad dataplans killing iPhone adoption in Japan, Canada

By Melanie, on February 28th, 2009

Back in June of 2008, many tech writers speculated that the iPhone might not go big in Japan. For my part, I wondered if philosophical and cultural differences might constitute barriers to adoption. I reasoned that the challenges would be practical as well as aesthetic.

Read the rest of my article at Howard Rheingold’s Smartmobs.

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Philosophy and cell phones in Japan [smartmobs]

By Melanie, on June 8th, 2008

Crossposting of my Smartmobs piece “Cell phones in Japan: Go big or Big Mind?“:

Apple’s 3G iPhone may well hit all the right notes with North American consumers but will it go big in Japan? WIRED writer Lisa Katayama isn’t so sure:

“Steve Jobs’ new iPhone, expected to be unveiled Monday, is headed to [...]

[Feature article] Linkedout: Blogging, equality and the future

By Melanie, on April 19th, 2004

My article was originally published in Mindjack Magazine (2004)

April 19 , 2004 | As I write this, another journalist is explaining what a blog is for the first time. Quite possibly, they are describing blogging as a trend created by actor Wil Wheaton. Most likely, they’re announcing how blogs have just “hit” the mainstream. [...]

[Feature article] Warren Ellis: The transmetropolitan condition

By Melanie, on October 27th, 2002

My article below was originally published in Mindjack Magazine online.

October 28, 2002 | There has never been a better time to read the work of comic book legend Warren Ellis. From the formulaic pornography of news coverage to the on-going ineptitude of our world “leaders”, Ellis delivers an intelligent and savagely funny antidote [...]

[Feature article] Reading McLuhan

By Melanie, on April 19th, 2002

My article below originally published in Mindjack Magazine online.

April 29, 2002 | If there’s a message of the for dummies age it’s that nothing is beyond our grasp. And our desire to believe this is reinforced by trends like usability, which privilege economy over elucidation. No one anticipated it all better than Marshall McLuhan, [...]