So this was my first experience with Minecraft and I have to say, I’m pretty impressed. I am by no means a gamer and although I was interested to see what all the fuss is about, I wasn’t convinced that this would be a tool to consider for future classed.
However, the presentation highlighted how Minecraft can be used to explore curricular competencies and act as a tool to build on core competencies with little intervention from the teacher.
The grade 8 students that spoke today were able to easily explain how using Minecraft at school had helped them learn communicative and problem-solving skills. They were also able to draw connections between the game and their future career goals. They mentioned ideas and topics that they were able to learn more about through the game as well. Beyond this, I was blown away by their ease in the room of adults and how easily they took on the role of teacher. The interest and motivation that had been sparked through Minecraft was evident in all the students that came today.
I think the aspect that shocked and pleased me the most about our experience with Minecraft was how quickly it encouraged prosocial behaviour. The room was busy with chat, people were helping each other, comparing, joking and just really engaging with each other through the game. At one point I heard one of our cohort mom’s say to her son “you’re teaching me things, this is fun”. What a wonderful way to interact.
It sounds like Minecraft works best with Social Studies units and core competencies. The teacher discussed using Minecraft for students to work on ancient civilizations in relation to studying ancient Egypt. She also talked about a unit in grade 6 where students were asked to create extreme environments. In this unit, I liked that the teacher said the students were given a choice; some students created their environments on paper and some worked in Minecraft.
The teacher also mentioned doing formative assessments for core competencies by walking around the room and making notes about who is helping who, how groups are working through problems and what creative things are being built. She also mentioned doing in depth self reflections that related to core competencies at the end of projects.
I love the idea of bring Minecraft into the classroom and it seems like it could be used with a large age range. One student mentioned that she started playing in grade 1. Although the teacher mentioned that she didn’t think teachers needed to have a whole lot of knowledge before using it, I wouldn’t feel comfortable unless I had some experience and a better picture of how it could be used. I would need to do some research. That said, there are a TON of resources for both emerging Minecrafters and teachers wanting to implement Minecraft. Some are listed here:
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/minecraft-in-classroom-andrew-miller
https://education.minecraft.net/how-it-works/in-the-classroom/
Personally, playing Minecraft made me dizzy. I enjoyed the experience and will definitely give it another shot, but not being a gamer, the movements of the screens made my head spin. This is something to consider when implementing it in the classroom. We can’t assume that all students are used to gaming and gaming screens. The teacher also mentioned that Minecraft has not been a spark with every group and that while it is a great tool, it won’t inspire the same kind of educational benefits with a group of kids that simply aren’t into it. As with all teaching tools, it will be important to consider the students of the class, try it out and use what works when it works.
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