Assistant Professor Eric Meyers has received a $15,000 award from OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, Inc.) and OCLC Research in collaboration with the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) for his proposal “Easy as Pi: Developing Computational Thinking in the Public Library.” The project will train youth service librarians in the use of the Raspberry Pi microcomputer, developing and disseminating a curriculum designed to promote computer programming skills in preteens (9-12 year-olds). The project was initially envisioned in collaboration with SLAIS alumna Daniel Wing, currently teacher-librarian at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver, and piloted in May and July 2014 at the West Vancouver Memorial Library.
“Learning to write code is becoming one of the essential skills of the Information Age,” said Dr. Meyers, whose research examines how young people find, make sense of, and use information. “The Raspberry Pi is an ideal tool for making hardware and software programming accessible to young people. Learning to ‘think like a computer scientist’ will not only help them better understand the information systems they use everyday, but prepare them to design and build the information tools of tomorrow.” Parents appear to agree: reaction to the Raspberry Pi pilot project at West Vancouver Memorial Library was so strong, a lottery had to be held for the handful of spots in the July workshops. Dr. Meyers looks forward to working with the librarians in the greater Vancouver region to scale-up the project, positioning British Columbia as a leader in digital literacy development through its strong network of public libraries.
The OCLC LIS Research Grant Competition was established in 1998 in recognition of the importance of research to the advancement of librarianship and information science. OCLC and ALISE promote independent research that helps librarians integrate new technologies into areas of traditional competence and contribute to a better understanding of the library environment. It has supported over 40 different projects across the United States and Canada through this annual competition.
Photos: Raspberry Pi Pilot at WVML
