Gaming, Information Literacy and the College Student
Can the skill acquired through mastery of videogames be applied to students attempting to conquer a maze of library databases and research? How have video games shaped the way students learn and process information and how can we use that understanding of these students in libraries? Learn how the gaming elements of urgency, complexity, learning by trial-and-error, active learning, experiential learning, and problem-based learning inform our goal of producing information literate students.
Notes
Jim Gee, University of Wisconsin/Madison. Linguist
George Needham, OCLC VP for member services.
Gee
discussed positive cognitive development through games. His most recent book is Why Video Games are Good for the Soul. In his analysis of the information-seeking habits of gamers, Gee has developed a number of interesting insights into the gamer’s M.O. First, expertise more important than credentials. He cautions librarians not to expect the digital native to read the (expletive deleted) manual before launching into an activity, but to give them incentive to read a manual when they need to do so. He suggests disguising training techniques with shortcut advice.
The gamer’s mantra, Gee offers, is: Use, Access, Modify. Create your own information.
Needham
Needham devoted much of his talk to an analysis of digital natives and how their information-seeking behavior is fundamentally different from the digital immigrant. Some dichotomies he established:
-
Seeking (immigrant) vs. Finding (native)
-
Progress toward goal (immigrant) vs. Twitch (native)
-
Linear progression (immgrant) vs. Parallel progression; random access (native)
-
Text-based learning (immigrant) vs. Pictorial learning (native)
- Interest in process (immigrant) vs. Interest in payoff (native)
The Digital native, Needham suggests, is nomadic, experiential, integrated. According to Needham, the digital native’s mantra is: Compete, collaborate, create.
Needham plugged Jenny Levine’s (shifted librarian) new book, Gaming & Libraries Library Technical Reports Series.
Both speakers addressed the changing notion of privacy and how it challenges librarians’ traditional emphasis on maintaining patrons’ privacy at all costs. Digital natives often do not hold the same strong feelings about privacy.
Noted by others
- When ‘Digital Natives’ Go to the Library by Scott Jaschik
- ALA session attended: Gaming, Information Literacy and College Students InfoMonkey Blog
