Designing Online Information Literacy Games Students Want to Play

Citation

Sandra Maathuis-Smith (2015), "Designing Online Information Literacy Games Students Want to Play", Library Review, Vol. 64 No. 6/7, pp. 503-504. https://doi.org/10.1108/LR-03-2015-0028

Drawing on their experiences with the design and evaluation of multiple implementations of BiblioBouts (an online information literacy game played by college students while writing research papers), the authors use qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques to provide a detailed case study and design example for information literacy games. Starting with a literature review on educational games in general, the authors “determine whether online games foster cognitive gains and improve students’ attitudes towards and motivation to learning” (p. 1). Chapter 2 looks at needs analysis and suggests eight questions that should be asked to determine the focus of an information literacy game, or indeed whether a game is the best approach for the situation.

Subsequent chapters cover game play, interface design, administration, evaluation and a detailed chapter on the BiblioBouts game itself. Chapters 7 to 9 take into consideration the users of BiblioBouts and how students prepared, used and evaluated the game. These chapters also highlight technical issues with BiblioBouts specifically, but such issues are indicative of problems that could arise from any information literacy game design. Chapter 10 looks at the students’ submitted research papers to determine what effect playing BiblioBouts had on their final selection of resources. It was surprising that the authors found that students went back to the drawing board and searched for resources other than those discovered by themselves and classmates from playing BiblioBouts. However, students did not discard the results achieved through playing BiblioBouts but rather supplemented these resources with others.

Chapter 10 looks at the students’ submitted research papers to determine what the particular benefits were of using this particular game. In general, there were many benefits including changing attitudes toward information literacy skills and making a solitary task into a collaborative exercise.

The book concludes with chapters on best practices for building information literacy games and ideas on how to best administer, provide instructions and user support. These can be applied across a range of games, not just information literacy games. The final chapter has ideas for future information literacy games, and there are also appendices detailing questionnaires and forms to use throughout the process.

Overall, this book does an excellent job, using firsthand experience, qualitative and quantitative research, to detail and support lessons learned, and to produce a best practice guide for librarians and educators to design effective and engaging information literacy games.