Group items tagged

"The game Minecraft is an emerging way to teach and learn basic concepts of collaboration in the classroom. Minecraft rose to popularity due to elaborate pop culture recreations and the ability to explore other people's lands. With Minecraft, students can learn about survival, experience history digitally and create models of cells for biology class. If you are using Minecraft in your class, follow these magazines to get new ideas for your lesson plan."

How to use minecraft to teach across schools. "Minecraft is an engaging platform for creativity, computational thinking, collaboration and learning. Crafting learning opportunities in Minecraft between schools is a wonderful opportunity to develop student collaboration and ICT for learning skills. Mineclass, started by a bunch of Australian Microsoft Expert Educators, was conceived to make interschool Minecraft projects a reality"

"One of the great things about Minecraft is that there's not just one version. It exists as a stand-alone game, but creative players also create modifications, or "mods," that add all sorts of upgrades, features, and options for every taste. One of the most popular mods for classrooms is MinecraftEdu. Since it's targeted at classrooms, teachers may be tempted to ignore Minecraft and head straight for MinecraftEdu -- but not so fast! Both Minecraft and MinecraftEdu can serve as great learning tools. So which version is right for you and your classroom? Consult this list of pros, cons, and suggestions to make your decision."

"Minecraft is more than just a game and used carefully it can also be a powerful educational tool. It allows young people to create and explore places that are completely inaccessible by other means. Within the blocky world, they can roam around historical sites, delve into the geology beneath their feet or fly through the chambers of a heart, and much more besides. The rich resources of these virtual worlds, coupled with the educational version of the game, allow teachers to immerse young people in a comfortable but exciting learning environment. Minecraft has the ability to bring just about any conceivable structure to the classroom, and beyond.

The video is a great example of what kids are able to do with Minecraft and what educational value can be derived.  And kudos to Ethan's teacher for being open-minded enough to accept a Minecraft creation in lieu of a traditional history project.

Minecraft is a game enjoyed by many but it also has a lot of potential for use in the classroom. The post lists some of the writers ideas for various subjects.

"At only 1:42, it's not exactly feature-length, but don't let the brevity of this clip put you off. It's about a brother and a sister telling you why they play, and enjoy, Minecraft. And it's wonderful."

"Minecraft -- the blocky game of breaking blocky blocks and building larger blocky things while avoiding death at the blocks of blocky bad things. Millions of people play this game worldwide!"

"Minecraft - 'a game about breaking and placing blocks' - is one of the world's biggest-selling computer games. When Jane Costello wanted to find out why her son Otis, eight, was so smitten, she quickly found out about its infinite possibilities"

"With its open-ended nature and robust creation tools, Minecraft has been used to create some amazing things. And as one teacher learned, those very same elements that make the game so compelling also make it a great educational tool.

A fun game to try out, don't let the graphics distract or confuse you. This is easy to use, bigger and much more complicated than it first looks. Good learning potential.

Post puts forward ideas (in simple terms) how Minecraft can be used in a variety of ways in primary schools. Could also work in junior secondary classes

"Minecraft is much more than just a game. Used carefully it can also be a powerful educational tool. It allows young people to create and explore places that are completely inaccessible by other means. Within the blocky world, they can roam around historical sites, delve into the geology beneath their feet or fly through the chambers of a heart, and much more besides. The rich resources of these virtual worlds, coupled with the educational version of the game, allow teachers to immerse young people in a comfortable but exciting learning environment. "

Gangman style minecraft paraody.

Screencast of a sustainable house built by a junior science student #ozscied. Made using #Minecraft

My name is Joel Levin. I am a computer teacher at a private school in New York City. This blog chronicles my foray into using Minecraft in the classroom. The results were far from expected.

"Published on YouTube on 17 Feb 2015. 'Crafting the Past' is a Minecraft education project bringing archaeology to life through digital digs. In this opening episode to the series we see the time-lapse of an archaeological dig in the UK, uncovering an ancient Roman amphitheatre."

Minecraft is the winner of a new arts award for computer games. The prize was announced at the finale of the GameCity videogame culture festival in Nottingham.