Categories Gaming & Gamification

Kent Holaday emails: Got this announcement for a new book from Harvard Business School press and thought you might be interested if you haven’t seen it yet. THIS MONTH’S FEATURE “At a time when our culture is rife with stories about the teenager who spends all his time playing video games, Beck and Wade tell the unorthodox side of the story—it turns out that these ‘loners’ are actually gaining skills valuable to business.” —Dr. Douglas C. Merrill, Senior Director, Information Systems, Google, Inc. The Kids Are Alright: How the Gamer Generation Is Changing the Workplace Think video games are kids’ […]

http://www.sjcpl.org/gameblog/?p=134

Rewriting job descriptions? Looking at your organizational chart? Offering gaming in your library? Don’t miss: http://ulatmac.wordpress.com/2006/09/18/8/ You see, there’s this guy whose name is Robert Gagne and he’s considered one of the “stars” of instructional design. Back in 1965 he published something called The Conditions of Learning. In it created a nine step process. This process has become known in the world of education as “Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction”. They are: Gain the learner’s attention Inform learners of objectives Stimulate recall of prior learning Present the content Provide learning guidance Elicit performance (practice) Assess performance Enhance retention and transfer […]

As I posted a few days ago, I am eagerly awaiting Jenny Levine’s Library Technology Report on Gaming in Libraries. Until then, read her insightful post “How Do we Measure gaming…”: Or do we somehow try to measure participation, like we do for the summer reading program or the teen advisory committee? Is there a way to equate the literacy of the number of books a kid reads in the reading program versus the literacy a kid needs to advance playing a video game? We don’t measure the actual literacy of the kids participating in the summer reading program, just […]

From Joy, one of my summer session students, comes this link: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/gaming/ Great resource for those interested in gaming in libraries and the News area has an RSS feed. Personally, I am eagerly awaiting the October release of Jenny Levine’s Library Technology Report “Gaming and Libraries: Intersection of Services.” Jenny’s take on gaming in libraries is most insightful and I believe her future view is most clear. Be ready folks, for more and more gaming in libraries.

http://webjunction.org//do/DisplayContent?id=13796 Fascinating article at WJ about Carvers Bay library and their gaming program — take a look for inspiration! Located next to the middle and high schools, the library is physically convenient for the Carvers Bay teens, but director Dwight McInvaill knows that it takes more than proximity to get the kids through the doors. Gaming is the key. The library has extended its hours until 7 PM most nights to accommodate the students’ schedules. However, McInvaill intends for the new library to have an impact on the low literacy and high dropout rates, so he’s applying a few rules […]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcls/sets/72057594066097750/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/sjcpl/104303715/in/set-1538496/

Michael Sauers reports on a flickr find of yet another “not Library 2.0” sign. http://www.travelinlibrarian.info/2006/02/not-library-20-again.html Excuse me, but… well., you know the drill. Turn em off now and how will they vote on the big library tax bill in ten years? At SJCPL, I’ve helped a couple of young fellows actually SAVE THEIR WORK to their PSP!