ALISE 2018 WIP Poster Abstract & References

While gaming is growing in popularity in the United States and other countries, E-Sports, or professional competitive gaming is considered a national pastime in South Korea (Mozur, 2014).  The South Korean government has promoted the integration of technology into K-12 education since the 1990s (Hur & Oh, 2012), leading South Korean researchers to explore the educational potential and limitations of both recreational and educational games in classroom and personal use contexts, but research on games and gaming in South Korean libraries and LIS education is limited.

This study presents a unique opportunity to expand on an ongoing project exploring the state of gaming in ALA-accredited programs in North America to explore and compare trends in South Korean LIS education.  This study will replicate a multiple methods design using online surveys and semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of LIS educators in South Korea.  The translated and localized survey and interview protocols will focus on identifying factors that inhibit or promote the use of games and gaming in the LIS curriculum.  Ultimately, the authors hope to develop best practices and curricular materials to help educators, and, in turn, pre-service librarians, to be better prepared to teach or use games in LIS classrooms and libraries in both countries.  Future directions for this project, such as exploring the inclusion of games and gaming as resources and programming in South Korean libraries, will also be discussed.

REFERENCES

1. Mozur, P. (2014, October 19). For South Korea, e-sports is national pastime.  The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/technology/league-of-legends-south-korea-epicenter-esports.html?_r=0
2. Hur, J. W., & Oh, J. (2012).  Learning, engagement, and technology:  Middle school students’ three-year experience in pervasive technology environments.  Journal of Educational Computing Research, 43(3), 295-312.
3. Martin, C., & Martinez, R. (2016). Games in classroom and practice in library and information science education. On the Horizon 24(1), 82-87.
4. Kenny, R., & Gunter, G. (2011).  Factors affecting adoption of video games in the classroom. Journal of Interactive Learning Research 22(2), 259-276.
5. Hollister, J. M., & Elkins, A. J. (2017). Power up:  Gaps in and opportunities for gaming in LIS curricula.  Poster presented at the 2017 ALISE Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA, January 17-20, 2017.
6. Nicholson, S. (2009). Go back to start: Gathering baseline data about gaming in libraries. Library Review 58(3), 203-214.
7. South Korean Library and Information Science Faculty Council. (2017).  South Korean Library and Information Science Faculty Directory [Directory].
8. Elkins, A. J., & Hollister, J. M. (2018).  Power Up:  Exploring Gaming in LIS Curricula.  Poster to be presented at the 2018 iConference, Sheffield, UK, March 25-28, 2018.