Weekly Reflection #7
This week we had the opportunity to attend a virtual workshop about Minecraft Education. I always loved Minecraft as a kid and am so excited that it can now be used as an educational tool! Through pre built worlds and games students can learn a variety of subjects, from math, science, and even history!
https://education.minecraft.net/en-us
After the workshop I explored the games that Minecraft Education had to offer and I will reluctantly admit that I am not as good at Minecraft as I once was. The game I chose to play was NASA’s “Artemis Missions”. After playing the game for 10 mins I had already learned about Newton’s laws and why NASA is conducting another launch to the moon. The one downside that I will note is that the set up took a while. If I was to do this with a younger class I would do it with an older buddy class to mitigate my own stress.
I am glad you found the week’s topic worthwhile. Please note that, like with Minecraft, many games require both an introduction and a follow-up to debrief and reinforce the messaging and intended outcomes for students. That is where Minecraft Education excels, as it has designed learning activities and lesson plans. Deliberate design and structure for how learning will occur is key to guiding students in the effective use of any supporting tech and gaming design.