The Paula and Rick Short Endowed Fellowship in Education was established in the spring of 2023. The third recipient of this honor is Department of Information, Library, and Research Sciences Master of Library and Information Science student H. Blake-Lee.
Blake-Lee is currently conducting research around generative AI and its use in academic libraries. With a background in game design, she is developing a game to talk about generative AI in those settings. It will allow people to understand and perceive AI in their daily work.
She said, “The goal is to bridge diverse perspectives and build empathy because there are a lot of different mindsets across campus. In libraries, there are very divergent perspectives of how people feel about AI – their comfort level, confidence level, or if they’re willing to engage with it. Librarians are trying to figure out how to navigate AI when students or faculty come to them and ask questions about it. The goal is to highlight these diverse perspectives, but in an accessible, hands-on way where people are able to play a quick game that has both AI and non-AI visuals.”
Having just completed the data collection phase of the project, Blake-Lee is now analyzing the data and finding the research themes. She will next explore the imagery to accompany the game and has begun developing mock gameplays.
The Paula and Rick Short Endowed Fellowship in Education was created to allow master’s or doctoral students in the School of Education to pursue an innovation project that addresses a real-world problem of practice in education. The award is presented on an annual basis and provides funds that may be used to support innovation efforts. Recipients of the award will work closely with the School of Education’s Impact Through Innovation (ITI) program which will lend support to the development and implementation of their ideas.
Being selected to receive this honor is meaningful to Blake-Lee who said, “I love that it supports the development of educational design programs and products. This fellowship can help turn my generative AI research and card game into a real resource with broader impact. It gives me space, structure, guidance, and mentorship to scale beyond UNCG and it helps me think towards long-term impact.”
Upon graduation in May, Blake-Lee hopes to return to Ireland, where she was able to participate in a study abroad program. On that trip she was able to meet with individuals at the National Library of Ireland and they expressed interest in adapting her game. This version would use images from their collection to have visitors reflect on their experiences and allow the library to have a better understanding of how its patrons are interpreting and connecting with the library’s works.
