Libraries, Literacy and Gaming:
Manhattanville College Grant
May 7, 2010
Westchester Library Association
Kate Todd
Let’s Play a Game
http://www.quia.com/rr/613221.html
Psychology and Play
Two psychologists theorized that “play” is an
essential part of learning
Jean Piaget
Switzerland
1896 - 1980
Lev Vygotsky
Russia
1896 - 1934
Education and Play
Maria Montessori designed materials that
emphasized learning through play
Maria Montessori
Italy
1870 - 1952
Example
Teaches children:
• Conservation of
Matter
• Manual dexterity
• Eyes, hands
Has the digital revolution
changed “play”?
If play has changed and education
is linked to play, how does
education need to change?
Video games and education
James Gee
Marc Prensky
Why use educational video games?
1. Use action instead of explanation
2. Create personal motivation and satisfaction
3. Accommodate multiple learning styles and
skills
4. Reinforce mastery skills
5. Provide interactive and decision making
context
(Kebritchi & Hirumi, 2008)
Gaming and Information
Literacy
Arizona State University
• Designed a board game:
Information Pursuit
• Wanted to create digital
version using Flash
• Difficulty working with
programmers
• Student testers said “Too
much text”
• Project was much larger
than planners anticipated
University of Florida
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/games/bioactive/
• Bioactive
• Programming with
Inform 7, interactive
fiction software
• Screen shots not
used because they
get dated
• Link out to library
resources
University of North Carolina
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Information Literacy Game
Board game format
Written by a librarian
Used AJAX programming
Available to other libraries
Lessons learned:
– Keep it simple
– Testing is critical
http://library.uncg.edu/game/
Trinity University
• Blood on the Stacks
• Introduction to library
for Freshman
• Residential school/
Used RAs
• Positive feedback
• Can it be re-used?
http://www.trinity.edu/jdonald/bloodonthestacks.html
Carnegie Mellon
• Grant: $50,000
• Team of 8 librarians
and game design
students
• Wanted to create 6
games
• Only completed 2:
– Within Range
– I’ll Get It
http://search.library.cmu.edu/rooms/documents/
libraries-and-collections/Libraries/etc/index.html
Online Games Designed for Information Literacy
Created by United States colleges and universities
arranged by ACRL standards
http://mville.libguides.com/standards
Examples
Industry Islands
Created by Kognito Interactive
For Baruch College
Citation Tic-Tac-Toe
Lesson created by Kate Todd.
Citation Tic Tac Toe was designed by
James Madison University.
Quiz created using Quia.
Manhattanville College
Gaming Grant
Student Created Games as a Tool
for Academic Success
A Different Approach
• Provide students with an opportunity to
create their own information literacy
games
• Training includes both library skills and
game design
• Students should then be able to share
their products with other students
Grant implementation
Summer 2009
MAP program
17 students
Introduction to Scratch
5 LIS topics
1. Manhattanville Library web site
2. Assignment planning/time
management
3. Asking questions of librarians
4. Finding books in the library
5. Using a database to find periodicals
5 lessons in Scratch
1. Moving sprites on the stage
2. Using multiple sprite costumes
3. Interaction of sprites
4. Using variables for scoring
5. Communication among sprites
• Students introduced to Scratch
software
• Students divided into 5 groups
to prepare games on LIS
topics
Let’s look at student designed games
Group 1: Asking questions of librarians
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Estefany, Ivan, Jordan, Myosha
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mvilletodd/661410
Librarian is a bat
Good conversation as example of asking
questions
• Shows understanding of link of subject to LC
class to location on Tier 2
• Wanted to change background—something I
had not taught them
Group 2: Using a database to find periodicals
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Edwin, Madison, Nicole, Vanessa
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mvilletodd/661397
Misunderstood assignment
Used database to find this information
Not about how to use database
Drag and drop matching game about animal
babies—finished one animal pair
• Understood use of variable for scoring
Group 3: Assignment planning/Time management
• Abdoul, Courtney, Jennifer
• http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mvilletodd/661399
• Walker was from first Scratch lesson—built on
what was learned in class
• Little old lady stereotyped librarian
• Again demonstrating link of subject to LC class
to location, plus importance of asking librarian
• Does not seem to picked up theme of
assignment: time management
Group 4: Finding books in the library
• Alina, Elizabeth, J.R.
• http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mvilletodd/661401
• Breadth of role of book types and multiple uses
of library
• Again wanted to change background—important
game element
• Expanded beyond the basics of finding books
Group 5: Manhattanville Library web site
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Annesha, Avril, Max
http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/mvilletodd/661403
Identifies four key areas of the library web site
Uses quiz format
Only finished first question
Game building takes a long time
Used that little old lady stereotype again
What have we learned about gaming?
• Games do help maintain student attention
• Games are useful for student assessment
• Students do not understand how or what
they learn from games
• Students who play games do not know
how to create games
• Some students do not enjoy video games
What we have learned about LIS
• The importance of real library places in
understanding virtual spaces
• LIS distinctions among topics is not
intuitive to incoming students
• Incoming freshmen do not find meaning in
an introduction to database searching
Next steps
• Online course for developing Quia games
offered to librarians
• Offer complete LIS 2098, a course
incorporating game design in Fall 2010
• Work with MAP students again this
summer, saving some spaces in game
design course
References
Alvarado, R. C. (2008). Overcoming the fear of gaming: A strategy for incorporating games into
teaching and learning.
EDUCAUSE Quarterly Magazine, 31(3). Retrieved April 5, 2010,
from
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/Ov
ercomingtheFearofGamingAStra/163094
Gee, J. P. (2007). What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy (Revised
and Updated Edition ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Harris, A., & Rice, S. E. (2008). Gaming in academic libraries : collections, marketing, and
information literacy. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.
Kebritchi, M., & Hirumi, A.
(2008). Examining the pedagogical foundations of modern educational
computer games. Computers & Education, 51(4), 1729-1743.
doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2008.05.004
Malone, T. W. (1980). What makes things fun to learn? Heuristics for designing instructional
computer games. Symposium on Small Systems: Proceedings of the 3rd ACM SIGSMALL
symposium and the first SIGPC symposium on Small systems, 162-169. doi:
10.1145/800088.802839
McCrea, B. (2010). Not Just Fun and Games. Campus Technology . Retrieved May 05, 2010, from
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/03/03/not-just-fun-and-games.aspx
Prensky, M. (2007). Digital Game-Based Learning. New York: Paragon House.
Prensky, M. (2008). Students as designers and creators of educational computer games: Who
else? British Journal of Educational Technology, 39 (6), 1004-1019. doi:10.1111/j.14678535.2008.00823_2.x
Robertson, M. J., & Jones, J. G. (2009). Exploring academic library users' preferences of delivery
methods for library instruction. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 48 (3), 259-269.
Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Find out more at guide prepared by Kate Todd:
Libraries, Literacy and Gaming
mville.libguides.com/games