{"id":566,"date":"2013-01-12T15:58:29","date_gmt":"2013-01-12T15:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=566"},"modified":"2013-01-12T17:07:27","modified_gmt":"2013-01-12T17:07:27","slug":"how-to-use-minecraft-in-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/how-to-use-minecraft-in-the-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Minecraft in teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2Fhow-to-use-minecraft-in-the-classroom%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/minecraftVillage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-571\" title=\"minecraftVillage\" src=\"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/minecraftVillage.jpg\" alt=\"Minecraft Village\" width=\"500\" height=\"306\" srcset=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/minecraftVillage.jpg 500w, http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/minecraftVillage-300x183.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In a <a title=\"Why Use Virtual Worlds To Teach?\" href=\"http:\/\/rosarioconsulting.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=525\">previous post<\/a>, we reviewed why Vicki Davis(<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/coolcatteacher\" target=\"_blank\">@coolcatteacher<\/a>) and other teachers use virtual worlds to teach digital citizenship and online collaboration. \u00a0 It\u2019s amazing to see how teachers use technologies like <a href=\"http:\/\/opensimulator.org\/wiki\/Main_Page\" target=\"_blank\">OpenSim<\/a> to transform their students into teachers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As a Dad, I always enjoy finding games that my son and I can enjoy together. \u00a0 We decided to check out Minecraft this week for father\/son gaming time. \u00a0 \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.minecraft.net\" target=\"_blank\">Minecraft <\/a>is a social virtual experience where players explore worlds composed of blocks. \u00a0 The game framework enables players to collaborate and communicate with each other by text chat. \u00a0 The game experience feels like you\u2019re walking into a land completely composed of Lego\u2019s. \u00a0 \u00a0If you had an infinite bucket of Lego blocks, what would you build? \u00a0 In a few hours game play, I have been blown away by the creativity and effort that Minecraft players invest in their virtual worlds.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As we have been exploring tools in educational technology, I have been impressed with how teachers use Minecraft in their classroom. \u00a0 In contrast to traditional games that have well defined stories and objectives, Minecraft was designed to be open ended. \u00a0 This enables teachers or students to design their own challenges, stories, project based learning experiences and quests. \u00a0 I wanted to review a few ways that educators use Minecraft in the classroom:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Minecraft can be used as a tool to engage student creativity:<\/strong> Erik Shaver, a social studies teacher, challenged his class to draw or describe a self sustainable town. One of his students asked if he could \u201cdraw\u201d his answer in Minecraft\u2026 The following video shows the amazing world the student created.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/At4XPKQlHjs\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>To learn more, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/minecraftteacher.tumblr.com\/post\/11871350389\/student-uses-minecraft-to-bring-history-to-life\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/minecraftteacher.tumblr.com\/post\/11871350389\/student-uses-minecraft-to-bring-history-to-life<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Minecraft in foreign language learning:<\/strong> In a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.teachersteachingteachers.org\/ttt-293-exploring-minecraft-with-joel-levin-chad-sansing-liam-odonnell-denise-colby-and-diana-maliszewski-41812\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cTeachers teaching teachers\u201d<\/a> episode, a story was shared about a foreign language teacher challenging the class to collaborate to create a complex structure(i.e. a city or castle) in Minecraft. \u00a0 This task, of course, would require a great deal of communication between students. The teacher required all students to communicate with each other while practicing their language skills.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Minecraft teacher:<\/strong>\u00a0Of course, I have to introduce you to Joel. \u00a0 Joel Levin is an innovative computer teacher from New York City who uses Minecraft to engage his students. \u00a0 He is also creator of <a href=\"http:\/\/minecraftedu.com\" target=\"_blank\">MinecraftEdu<\/a>, the official version of Minecraft designed for teachers and students. The following video describes how he uses Minecraft in his classroom.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-mTf3j2koJA\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>More ideas from the Minecraft education Wiki<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/minecraftedu.com\/wiki\/index.php?title=Real-world_Examples\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/minecraftedu.com\/wiki\/index.php?title=Real-world_Examples<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Could you imagine yourself using a virtual environment to engage your students?<\/p>\n<p>Have you used a technology like Second Life or <a href=\"http:\/\/minecraft.net\" target=\"_blank\">Minecraft <\/a>to help create a creative teaching environment?<\/p>\n<p>Please leave a comment here. \u00a0 \u00a0We would love to share your stories.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/postapocalyptic\/6606206231\/sizes\/m\/in\/photostream\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/postapocalyptic\/6606206231\/sizes\/m\/in\/photostream\/<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2Fhow-to-use-minecraft-in-the-classroom%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a previous post, we reviewed why Vicki Davis(@coolcatteacher) and other teachers use virtual worlds to teach digital citizenship and online collaboration. \u00a0 It\u2019s amazing to see how teachers use technologies like OpenSim to transform their students into teachers. &nbsp; As a Dad, I always enjoy finding games that my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,7,5,3,8,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":569,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions\/569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}