Teaching Through Games: the Playful Teacher Librarian

Photo by a_whisper_of_unremitting_demand - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/7596336@N05 Created with Haiku Deck

Teaching through games: the playful teacher librarian

Teaching Fellow / Academic Librarian

@andywalsh999http://innovativelibraries.org.uk

What is play?"Summing up the formal characteristic of play, we might call it a free activity standing quite consciously outside 'ordinary' life as being 'not

serious' but at the same time absorbing the player intensely and utterly. It is an activity connected with no material interest, and no

profit can be gained by it. It proceeds within its own proper boundaries of time and space according to fixed rules and in an

orderly manner. It promotes the formation of social groupings that tend to surround themselves with secrecy and to stress the difference

from the common world by disguise or other means.“Huizinga (1955) Homo Ludens

play is Apparently Purposeless (done for its own sake); Voluntary; has Inherent Attraction; Freedom from time; Diminished consciousness of

self; Improvisational potential; and Continuation desire.Brown & Vaughan (2010) Play: How it shapes the brain, opens the imagination, and invigorates the

soul.

• Good for exploring ideas• Safe• Creative• Inviting• Low risk (for participants)• Thinking with your hands

So “play” is good for…

Playful examples…

From: http://www.marchoftherobots.com/2014/03/02/leroy-the-robot-at-leeds-central-library/A “Playful Leeds project” - http://www.playfulleeds.co.uk/

Scan of a 19th-century toy in public domain. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paper-doll-3.jpg

From the Library A to Z. http://libraryAtoZ.org

Photo by Kalexanderson - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/45940879@N04 Created with Haiku Deck

What are games?

Play with rules?

“All games share four defining traits: a goal, rules, a feedback system, and voluntary participation.”

McGonigal (2012) Reality is broken: Why games make us better and how they can change the world.

So “Games” are good for…

• Good for active learning• Construct own knowledge• Expose people to new ideas• Reinforce facts by repetition• Memorable!

Game examples…

But how do I make games?!!!

• Set learning objectives• Consider your key constraints• Decide on game mechanics• Pick a theme or feel for the game • Prototype• Playtest & improve (several times!)• Write the rules • Finish the design and print.

… and print them?

• Game Crafter (https://www.thegamecrafter.com/)

• Business card printers (http://uk.moo.com/) • SpielMateriel (

http://www.spielematerial.de/en/)

Or improvise a little more…

From: http://gamesforlibraries.blogspot.co.uk/