Making the future, one video-gamer at a time.

"I have seen am making the future." - Jane McGonical and the Institute for the Future.

I grew up thinking video games were bad. They were a fun way to waste time, but they ultimately caused children to go numb with stupidity and a lack of awareness for their surroundings. They could be played completely stationary, allowing a child to exert little-to-no energy, save for the twiddling of their thumbs. They could be played alone, isolating a child from friends and family. And...they seemed to be the number one way to procrastinate doing homework.

All things bad.

There was and still is a stigma tagged to video-game-playing-children (assigned mostly by the mothers of their non-video-game-playing friends) that seems to say you're not good at many things, are you? Not good at school, not good at sports, probably not very good at playing with other kids, either.

My older brother is a gamer. He has gamer friends. And, over the years, I've watched him become engrossed in one game and then another, coming down for dinner only after reaching the coveted "save point," doing homework assignments only during mandatory game breaks, and taking little interest in things like "books," unless they are filled with game strategies and cheats.

I'm not going to lie to you...I was unimpressed. I was the little sister, the one who always did well in school. The one who could be found studying or at an extra-curricular event, pulling all-nighters even in high school. The one who, save for a Super Mario game here and there, had little interest in (nor talent for) video games. So when Older Brother used to peep into my room to congratulate me for a good report card and express how he wished he could do as well as me in school, there was little sympathy on my end.

What does this nostalgic look at video games have to do with my journey into the world of library? Well...two things have recently forced me to take a different look at video games and the gamers who play them. Nay, conquer them.

Things that make librarians even cooler

I'll be the first to admit that I am a gadget fiend. I love new technology, and I love having it first. There is just something so satisfying about sharing cool new things with your friends, family, colleagues, and students. It is as if, somehow, because they are hearing it from you, you get to take responsibility for its awesomeness. It's totally ridiculous, but I digress...

When it comes to pricey toys that can be bought in stores, read: iPad, iPod, i[insertanythinghere], I am rarely, if ever, a first/early adopter. I don't have the mojo to keep up that style. But that is what is so great about Web 2.0...there's a lot of cool and nerdy stuff out there for (wait for it) ... FREE!

Having been out of the school setting (both K-12 and college) for a few years now, I've grown distant from the environment where new web tools are shared because they are useful, rather than just because they are cool. LIS 629 is all about integrating technology into the school library media program...and so it goes without saying that web tools are a main component. For a recent course task, I was charged with creating accounts on several new "Web 2.0" website accounts. This of course came with the excitement of browsing new tools and wanting to play with them right away. Since I love to share, those around me have been receiving my Web gems (virtual comic strips, glogs, animoto movies, virtual bookshelves, livebinders, etc) via e-mail as I tool around and discover how awesome they are.

But, what's even coolER (to reference the title of this entry) is that these tools can enhance education in ways that no textbooks could ever dream of. They are fun, easy to use, and adept at building 21st century skills. Kids learn how to collect information, analyze that information, and then use that information to create, produce, and discover something new. Then it's as easy as 1 2 3 to share it with their teachers, classmates, and parents.

When I show these tools to friends and colleagues, many of them are seeing them for the first time. Their reaction is always the same..."COOL!" I have always been that girl who likes to write a paper for school and then share it with her friends. If something interests me, I like to show it to others to get their feedback and open discussion. For years, my friends have been humoring me while reading my papers or looking at my projects. But now when I share my work, I get the feeling that my friends actually enjoy looking at my websites, wikis, blogs, glogs, prezis, wallwishers, etc - rather than resenting me for sharing.