A Dance With the Unknown: How Gamification of Digital Literacy Training has Staff Excited about Tech Troubleshooting

Anxiety, frustration, and fear were barriers for many frontline staff in helping customers troubleshoot technology issues. To address this barrier, we developed a multi-stage online and in- person gamification approach to tech troubleshooting, buttressed by a self-paced e-collection learning plan. As staff progress through the training, even the most anxious and apprehensive became more participatory, testing what they’ve learned, and collaborating with colleagues to solve problems. This session will show our approach to digital literacy training and how it works to overcome these psychological barriers to improve staff technical competencies, build staff confidence, and provide customers with more consistently positive experiences when coming to the library for help with digital literacy questions.