Reference, Instruction, and Outreach (RIO)

Universities at Albany Librarians Trudi Jacobson and Kelsey O’Brien, and Skidmore College librarian Jenna Pitera demonstrated the immersive game platform BreakoutEDU which incorporates gamification elements into library instruction. They showed the group how BreakoutEDU toolkits allowed them  to create their own escape-room style game for the classroom. Trudi, Kelsey and Jenna guided the participants through a game that used library information and provided library instructional materials to avoid a zombie apocalypse. The game was followed by a short debrief on how they have implemented and refined this game for several different learning contexts.They also provided tips, resources and lessons they had learned about designing and facilitating theses games.