Exercising library and information literacies through alternate reality gaming
| Pages | 230-254 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-11-2016-0185 |
| Published date | 20 March 2017 |
| Date | 20 March 2017 |
| Author | Adam Jerrett,Theo J.D. Bothma,Koos de Beer |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
Exercising library and
information literacies through
alternate reality gaming
Adam Jerrett, Theo J.D. Bothma and Koos de Beer
Department of Information Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Abstract
Purpose –Teaching students/library patrons twenty-first century literacies (such as information and library
literacies) is important within a library setting. As such, finding an appropriate manner to teach these skills in
a practical manner at tertiary level is important. As vehicles for constructivist learning, games provide a
unique opportunity to teach these twenty-first century literacies in an engaging, practical, format.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the implementation of an alternate reality game (ARG) to teach these
literacies through gameplay.
Design/methodology/approach –An ARG was designed and developed where the core gameplay tasks
taught and exercised twenty-first century literacies. The game, once completed, was then analysed as a case
study to determine the effectiveness of the game-based approach to literacy learning.
Findings –Throughout the play of the game, players spent increasingly more time in the library, often using
it as a common meeting point during play. Players reported that they learnt or exercised the skills that each
game task focussed on, additionally noting that the game-based context made the process of learning and
exercising these skills more enjoyable.
Originality/value –The findings suggest that the creation of games, whether real world or digital, may be
useful in engaging students/patrons with twenty-first century literacies as well as with their local library.
The documentation of a successful ARG to teach twenty-first century literacies provides a model for future
research to follow when designing engaging library-oriented games.
Keywords Information literacy, Library, Game-based learning, Twenty-first century literacies,
Alternate reality game, Constructivist teaching
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
The teaching and exercising of specific skill sets through practical application is becoming
increasingly important in the twenty-first century’s information age (Gee, 2003). As such,
the idea of “actionable”theoretical knowledge has become a key component of the creation
and administration of an effective, “authentic learning”experience (Galarneau, 2005).
The development of core information literacy competencies such as information
relevance, information location, search strategies and information retrieval (de Boer et al.,
2011) is thought to be an invaluable skill set for the use of academic libraries in academic
institutions (Owusu-Ansah, 2004).
To support this, various academic institutions offer modules or programmes that aid in
the acquisition of such skill sets (Badke, 2005). The University of Pretoria presents a
compulsory module in this regard to all students who register at the university (University
of Pretoria, 2016).
However, researcher observation shows that students traditionally have trouble
engaging with this module due to its compulsory nature and a lack of initial understanding
regarding the module’s importance. This is not uncommon, as it is reported that students of
similar modules in other institutions struggle to understand the concept of information
literacy and its skills (Maybee, 2006).
As a result, the lack of student engagement results in a barrier to learning
(Whitton, 2011). Digital games have been suggested as a solution to stimulating engagement
within a learning environment (Whitton, 2011).
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 69 No. 2, 2017
pp. 230-254
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-11-2016-0185
Received 8 November 2016
Revised 15 March 2017
18 April 2017
Accepted 18 April 2017
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
230
AJIM
69,2
This paper discusses the design of an alternate reality game (ARG) that teaches and
exercises information literacy competencies in an engaging and entertaining manner. In this
regard it extends work carried by de Beer and Holmner (2013) wherein they propose that an
ARG designed to teach library and information literacies would be a useful contribution to
the existing body of knowledge.
The ARG was examined as a case study (Gerring, 2004; Pickard, 2013, p. 101; Yin, 2013).
The data collection techniques used were non-participant observation (Patton, 1987, p. 81;
Pickard, 2013, p. 229), document analysis (Pickard, 2013, pp. 252-254), log file analysis
(Pickard, 2013, p. 256), questionnaires ( Pickard, 2013, p. 207) and focus groups
(Gorman et al., 2005; Powell et al., 1996; Stewart and Shamdasani, 1990).
It is important to note that while the case was implemented at the University of Pretoria,
and findings are not generalisable due to the study’s qualitative nature, the approach taken
to Nomad’s development may be applicable to academic institutions and libraries in general
(see Section 6 e.g. puzzles). The ARG’s design, detailed fully by Jerrett (2016), may
additionally be replicable across institutions with similar results.
The choice to create an ARG rather than a traditional game laid in the benefits unique to
ARGs: players play the game in the real world. Because players experience an ARG in first
person, they have the ability to make choices that can fundamentally change the game in
real time. It is this sense of agency that makes the ARG genre so compelling and immersive
(McGonigal, 2003a). This real-world context also allowed the experience to feel authentic
and relevant to the lives of the players, and is discussed further in Section 3.2.1.
Additionally, ARGs place emphasis on collaboration and the use of multiple media, making
the experience engaging and suitable for larger student groups. This emphasis on
collaboration and multi-media mirrors aspects of the traditional education system. As such,
ARGs complement the existing system, rather than replacing it, allowing it to be used
complementary to traditional instruction (Zhang and Nunamaker, 2003).
This paper continues by discussing aspects of the ARG genre that makes it unique when
compared to traditional or digital games. Following this a narrative outline of the ARG itself,
named Nomad, is presented. Nomad’s puzzles and the learning outcomes intended for each
of these puzzles are discussed. The findings of Nomad are then discussed before conclusions
are made regarding the suitability of ARGs as twenty-first century literacy vehicles.
2. Game-based learning
Games are frequently used as teaching tools due to their highly practical nature and the
approach they inherently take to the teaching of various literacies (Gee, 2003). This method
and the way in which it is applied for information literacy teaching is discussed below.
2.1 Constructivist teaching
The learning theory of constructivism focusses on the construction of a personalised
learning path through some contextualised environment (such as a real-world environment
or virtual environment). As learners explore these environments they construct new
knowledge of the environment based on the integration of this knowledge with previous
knowledge and contexts (Wadsworth, 1996). Research argues that games inherently adhere
to these constructivist principles as the play of any game is an active learning experience
within the system (Dickey, 2006; Galarneau, 2005; Gee, 2003). As players play a game, they
plot their own path through the game, and thus through the learning experiences these
games provide.
Multi-literacy teaching in traditional environments is also inherently constructivist, as
twenty-first century learners need to contextualise new knowledge from various types of
sources based on their existing contexts in an increasingly globalised world (Cazden et al.,1996).
With these multiliteracies inherently practised in games (Gee, 2003), including ARGs
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Exercising
library and
information
literacies
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