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"Geeky teachers have brought Minecraft to subjects ranging from history to biology to probability. The game is being rolled out to every secondary school in Northern Ireland this month. If you're a parent, you've noticed Minecraft offerings spawning in your local summer camp listings. The Chicago Architecture Foundation offers a Minecraft camp for budding builders. Ninety-two libraries participated in the International Games Day Minecraft Hunger Games tournament, andcrowned a 13-year-old girl as its champion. And, I've helped launch Connected Camps' Summer of Minecraft, a new in-game online camp. "Progressive educators have been advocating for games-based learning ever since Carmen Sandiego, Oregon Trail, and Reader Rabbit opened up a new market for consumer children's software in the '80s. SimCity demonstrated how a building and tinkering game could be embraced by parents, kids, and educators. And, Scratch shows how kid-centered learning communities can thrive online. "Minecraft is part of this lineage of learning games, but it fundamentally rewrites the playbook." This blog talks about why Minecraft is so popular with kids and with educators alike, referring back to Papert's experiments with "turtles." My 9-yr-old granddaughter is totally absorbed by the game and the games within the game she can play. She's even venturing into the "survival" mode where exploration includes fighting zombies. What's not to like?

This description of educational uses with Minecraft includes a discussion of children with Aspberger's, 3D printing, and a video explaining more of how Minecraft works. Food for thought if you like the idea of using multi-player 3D games as an education tool.

Detailed lesson ideas for using this popular online building game.

R. Byrne discusses ScreenCastify, Snagit for Chrome, and Google+ Hangout On Air (when no one else is in your Hangout). With detailed instructions and several instructive videos showing how. Screencasts are often the best way to show students how to do something, and students can easily make them to show each other or to demonstrate their expertise in something. My 9-year-old granddaughter is making screencasts of her game play with Minecraft just for fun.