Integrating Computational Thinking into Technology Courses for School and Youth Services Librarians

Abstract

This paper will present findings and share the experiences of the authors initiating a dialogue for change in both Library and Information Studies (LIS) curriculum and in professional library practice by integrating computational thinking (CT) into youth services courses in two LIS programs in the United States (U.S.) to promote integration of CT into youth programming and instruction in school and public libraries. These courses, part of Phase II of the Libraries Ready to Code (RtC) initiative, were redesigned with the help of a six-member faculty cohort and liaisons from the American Library Association (ALA), the iSchool at the University of Maryland, and Google. The faculty participated in two workshops, online meetings, and asynchronous collaborative exercises to learn about computational thinking, to brainstorm ways to integrate CT into their courses, to design modules or class activities involving CT, and to share their experiences of implementing CT in their courses. This paper focuses on two of the six CT course redesigns and describes the CT integrations into the youth services courses.