“The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect a person’s sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically.” (From the website)

There are several really interesting full text articles here about gaming and literacy. From December 2007.
-Lara

-Kathleen

LA Times op ed

Vivian gave me her copy of the latest issue of American Libraries in class today because the cover story is about gaming. I was able to access the (relatively short) story online so hopefully we can all peruse it that way and I’ll give her her copy back.

Gaming @ your library

The article starts on page 40, and there are resources about games scattered throughout – a few up around page 82, 85, etc.

I like that the cover image shows some popular party board games like Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit, as well as a Wii controller!

-Lara

One book I got that I will bring when we get together next is all about actually starting tournaments/gaming in libraries. It will be very helpful to us I’m sure!

The other two are more about the effect that games have on young people. One book is very critical and it was written in the early 90s, so it is interesting to compare to a more recent (and scientific) look at the subject. The recent one that I am reading now is called Grand Theft Childhood, and despite the negative title a lot of their findings indicate that video games, even violent video games, are not harmful to the vast majority of young people. Most importantly, this book did a lot of discussion groups with kids and their parents, which really helps us to understand why a range of people play games. While we don’t have to focus on the violent games question much in our presentation, it will be good to have some awareness of the research as well as the common concerns that parents have, in case it comes up as a question or in case we do want to acknowledge that we have looked into this.

I am only about 30 pages in to Grand Theft Childhood but already there have been some good things we can mention. The author spends a couple of pages talking about Pokemon, and how part of the appeal of the game is collecting the creatures. Young people love to collect things (coins, stamps, sports cards, pogs, trolls, beanie babies – there are so many fads!) and it’s a way they can relate to each other. Here is a passage from page 15:
“We had recently moved to Switzerland, which meant that he was attending a new school. Pokemon was an international crazy among kids,a nd our son wanted to take part. We bough the Game Boy and the Pokemon cartridges. As we watched and listened to him, it became apparent that the primary attraction for him wasn’t the pokemon games themselves,but the social interactions they triggered with peers. It gave [them] … a non-threatening common experience to talk about. This let them build relationships and explore new social roles.”

I think this is really neat because we’ve been talking in class about the transition times, and how in YA lit you often see a family move, or start a new school, or whatever. Clearly this happened in this family’s life and video games were a way the son made friends and felt at home in a new country. That is pretty cool! Even in a small town, I feel like video games in the library could really help integrate the community. When you have a new student arrive from somewhere else, especially if they sound or look different, it can be hard for them to make friends. Having a video game program at the library could help increase social interaction.

Anyway, there is more but I have to go! I’ll keep reporting on the interesting parts.

Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ – rated T for Teen.

-Lara

-Lara