Gaming in Libraries Online Course

I just came across this Gaming in Libraries course that was taught online by Scott Nicholson at Syracuse University a few months ago (here's a link to the intro episode). It looks like it provides a lot of great information that will really be beneficial to this little adventure I have embarked upon (I've also added a link to it in the right-hand column).

I watched the first 3 videos: the intro, session 1, and session 2. He goes through and introduces himself and the course and then starts talking about how "games" will be defined for the purposes of the course. Games include three important components: play, goals, and structure.

Play
The purpose of engaging in the game activity must be to have fun. There are a lot of things that we do that have goals and structure but that we don't do for fun. He gave the example of professional athletes. They are playing a sport but are getting paid to do so. So, is it still for the purpose of having fun for them?

Goals
Second, there must be goals involved in the game activity. These goals can be self-imposed, as is usually the case with role-playing games, or the goals can be imposed upon players by the game (i.e., be the first player to score 10 points).

Structure
Lastly, the game activity must be structured. This is usually provided for players via the rules or instruction document; how do you play the game? Dr. Nicholson did mention that games can be used for play but without structure. For example, you could just take the bits from a game and explore them or incorporate them into some other "free-play" that you are engaged in. This is something that I see with my children all the time. I'll get out a bunch of the pieces for Heroscape and usually they don't much care for playing the game according to the rules and whatnot. They would much rather grab the guys and start building land and things for them to "live" on. They love to engage in "free-play" with the pieces from Heroscape. Recently though, our 7 year old, she is a lot more into trying to learn how to actually play the game according to the rules. It's just not that easy to do with the other kids just wanting to do their normal "free-play" with all of it.

This all got me to thinking about the goals that I would have for doing this after school club with kids in an elementary school. First, I want to help them learn new games, learn new ways of having fun! I enjoy learning and playing games; it's a lot of fun. Second, I want to make it a learning experience for them. I want them to stretch their brains and have new experiences that will help them learn. For that reason I've sought out things like the book, Libraries Got Game, and this online course by Scott Nicholson about having a gaming program in libraries.

It's great to find so much available for guiding those of us who are new to this kind of thing and looking for help in moving forward.

Everything's got to start somewhere

I recently heard about the book Libraries Got Game: Aligned Learning through Modern Board Games. It's published by the American Library Association and sounds really cool. So I looked for it here at the USU library and at the public library, but came up empty at both places. The university library did let me know that they were in the process of acquiring the book and put my name on the list to receive it once it came in. Well, I just got it a couple days ago and can't wait to really get into it!

After picking it up I needed to make a stop at the Edith Bowen Moore Library. While I was there I had to tell them about the book and talked to them a little about my love of designing games. The idea came up (not mine) that I could head up a little after school group with the kids at the elementary where I would teach them games! Well, I thought the idea was excellent. I love games and I am very into education, so, it seems to fit pretty well for me.

The plan is that Tuesdays after school, starting on the first Tuesday of December, I'll have an hour with any kids who decide they want to participate. I'm not exactly sure how the whole thing will work out, but I am going to use the book as a guide for what I'm going to be doing with the kids. Plus, the authors of the book are from the School Library System of Genesee Valley BOCES and have put up a great website about games and libraries (here). These great resources will be very helpful in this little adventure. I figured I'd chronicle the whole thing in this little blog.