Games and play-based experiences offer fun and accessible ways to engage your patrons of all ages about media and information literacy. In this session, researchers will share why games can be an effective method to teach about the information environment across a variety of library settings using formats such as escape rooms and adaptations of popular, existing games. Attendees will also learn about a ready-to-use set of resources created by the University of Washington Information School. These resources cover a wide range of topics including media literacy basics, AI-generated images, and how information flows online.

Presented by:

• Chris Coward, Co-Founder, Center for an Informed Public, University of Washington 
• Scott DeJong, Game Designer and Ph.D. Candidate in Communication, Concordia University
• Michelle Newman, University of Washington, PhD candidate

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• View webinar recording

Webinar attachments

• View slides (pdf) 
  
• View chat (txt) 

Related resources and links

• Loki's Loop, games for navigating complex information environments
• The Feed, a game of media mischief
• Feed the Machine is a game built around the tension of using or not using an AI tool. The link shows slightly older versions of the game.Scott is offering the playtest files (available in FR and EN) for free by emailing him at [email protected]
• David Buckingham's simple blog post explaining critical media literacy
• Zarhi's Missing, narrative adventure game where small teams attemp to report on a crisis when Fizzlebrook's local robot goes missing.
• Ludoliteracy: Defining, understanding, and supporting games education by José P. Zagal.  
• FACIT PD: a framework for analysis and creation of intergenerational techniques for participatory design, from 2013 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.  
• Design partnerships for participatory librarianship: A conceptual model for understanding librarians co designing with digital youth, 2019 research article in JASIST. 
• Learn more about kidsteam here
• Playing with fake news: State of fake news video games by Scott DeJong 2023 article in International Journal of Games and Social Impact. 
• Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington