Exploring Minecraft at School
Recently, I was featured in the MVSD ICT Deptarment’s WOW Wednesday series for the work I have done to incorporate Minecraft Education into the school as both extra-curricular and course content. I was also interviewed regarding my experiences using Minecraft in school by Dr. Mike Nantais and Dr. Rennie Redekopp for their podcast, Dail I.T. Up which is available on most major podcast platforms. In the past, I have facilitated an extra-curricular Minecraft club, hosted a Grade 6 Build Challenge where students were tasked with building an additional module onto the International Space Station, used a Minecraft build to demonstrate student understanding of Surface Area, and explored Manitoba and Indigenous culture, through the Manito Ahbee Aki world, with 140 Grade 6 students over a 10-day period.
This winter I was approached by a colleague to set up an enrichment activity for students in her class that were done and ready to move on to a new topic before most of the class had mastered the skills they were working on. The parameters were that it needed to be self-directed, independent and engaging. I suggested that we try to incorporate Minecraft into the plan, and came up with an idea that utilized the Green Building Challenge from Minecraft Education. To start students off, as an exemplar, I shared a video put together by a group of students from Winnipeg that highlighted a build challenge that they completed.
Students were provided with reliable sources for research and note-taking graphic organizers to collect their research. In small groups they then discussed their build plans, sustainable building practices they wanted to include, and then started creating in their Minecraft world. In my most recent check-in with the group, they shared what they had created so far; their builds included small-scale agriculture to produce their own food, selecting a location near a water source and utilizing geo-thermal as a heat source. Their builds are on-going, and I can’t wait to share the finished products.
Starting tomorrow, I will be facilitating Minecraft build challenges as enrichment tasks for groups of Grade 6 and 7 students who have selected Minecraft as something they are interested in. Stay tuned!
Comments