Games-Based Learning 05.03.19 | Abbie's Reflective Journal

During the beginning of today’s workshop, we reflected as a class on writing an effective blog. We were provided with a successful blog from the previous year, and after reading this I now feel fairly confident that I am on the right track with my own blogs. After discussing with peers, I am aware that I need to improve on my referencing to make sure it is as accurate as possible. The example blog also included reflection woven throughout, which I plan to incorporate into my own blogs as I think it works better. I think that this class discussion was very helpful as it has refreshed my understanding of what we are expected to write and my awareness of how often I am reflecting in my blogs. It was interesting to listen to how my peers had interpreted the blogs differently, it opened my mind to further expanding my blogs and adding different factors to improve them. I have also noticed my blogs becoming a more ‘chatty’ and relaxed style throughout the module, as I am usually a very formal writer.

The rest of today’s workshop focused on games based learning, in particular using ‘Minecraft’ as a stimulus for learning, and exploring ‘Minecraft’ as a learner to plan, create and design different concepts. In 2019, gaming is a huge part of many children’s lives. Ofcom Report (2011) shows the popularity of gaming in the UK with 90% of 8-11 year olds using gaming devices regularly (Ofcom, 2011).

As console games as embedded in 21^st century youth culture (Ofcom, 2011), a new approach to games in the classroom is required; not only used as rewards, but as a tool to enhance teaching and learning (Bray, 2012). In my own primary school experience, I only remember games ever being used during ‘golden time’ as a reward, despite having huge potential to assist teaching and raise attainment; benefits which I am becoming more aware of throughout this module.

Bray also highlights the impact if games based learning depends on the way it is used by the teacher (Bray, 2012). This relates to schools who have access to DS consoles or iPads; how it is used and how often it is used will have great effect on the impact. ICT and games in learning can develop many skills such as; strategic thinking, communication, negotiation, group decision making and data handling (Beauchamp, 2012, p.10). However, many of the games popular with children could not be used in the classroom. For example, Fortnite is one of the most popular games amongst young people, but would not be appropriate for classroom use due to violence in the game. On the other hand, Minecraft is an example of a game which could be used to enhance learning. Minecraft is a child friendly block-based building and survival game where players can create and explore different worlds. Minecraft is embedded in 21^st century youth culture; since released in 2011, the worldwide phenomenon has “taken to the hearts of thousands and thousands of gamers” (How to do everything in Minecraft, 2014, p.3). The game also develops many digital skills and problem solving and strategy skills, and as the game never finishes the possibilities are endless.

In relation to Minecraft in education, there is an education edition of the game which is good for school use. When downloaded, the free trial enables 10 log-ins therefore the school would need to fund this if it was to be regularly used as an educational resource.

Today’s workshop task was to plan and create a lesson using Minecraft in the classroom. My group began by watching tutorial videos to gain knowledge of the basics of using Minecraft, we then installed the game and experimented with the controls. Personally, I found the game easy to operate, this could be due to previous experience as a child, however some classmates did struggle with the layout of the game. We then created an interdisciplinary planner on a provided format to convey our ideas. As Minecraft can support many different aspects of the curriculum we tried to incorporate as many as we could into the topic. We decided that Minecraft would feed into the learning, rather than be the trigger of the learning. Architecture was our inspiration for the lesson; this focused on a second level topic of world landmarks. The lesson plan would be for pupils to recreate a famous landmark from a provided list of examples, such as Empire State Building, Big Ben, Eiffel Tower or Edinburgh Castle. As this is such a broad topic, it relates to many curricular areas and educational outcomes.

This activity relates to expressive arts in terms of sketching and planning what the landmark would look like on Minecraft, and learning about different architectural features. We chose the outcome; “I have the opportunity to choose and explore an extended range of media and technologies to create images and objects, comparing and combining them for different tasks.” EXA 2-02a (Education Scotland, 2019).

The activity also relates to literacy, as pupils could research their landmark to produce a fact file about it and present this to peers. This relates to the outcome; “I can select ideas and relevant information, organise them in appropriate ways for my purpose and use suitable vocabulary for my audience.” LIT 2-06a (Education Scotland, 2019).

Numeracy and mathematics can also be incorporated into this activity when pupils identify structures and shapes of buildings, and the symmetry of the architecture. This outcome which relates to this is; “I have worked with others to explore and present our findings on how mathematics impacts on the world and the important part it has played in advances and inventions.” MTH 2-12a (Education Scotland, 2019).

The last curricular area we incorporated is social studies. Pupils would be exploring different places and cultures, as well as giving detailed information about the landmark chosen through their fact file, such as location, architect and time period. This would link to the outcome; “I can discuss issues of diversity of cultures, values and customs in our society.” SOC 2-16c (Education Scotland, 2019).

By asking learners to present their work this would develop communication skills and build confidence. This activity is an effective way of putting learners in charge.

Overall I think our activity would work well incorporated into a class topic. Working as a group was beneficial as we negotiated different roles for each person. There was a good mix of those with a lot of experience using Minecraft, and those with little or no experience with the game, meaning we could help one another. There was very little disagreement and listening to one another’s ideas helped us to develop the concept to be a full classroom lesson.

When presenting our work to the rest of the class, I felt confident in my group’s final outcome. I also felt comfortable in delivering the presentation, as my ability to share opinions and ideas has grown significantly throughout my first year of university. It was interesting to hear other group’s take on games based learning, all were very different, highlighting the many possibilities of using Minecraft as a classroom resource. Every group approached the task differently, but the common thread throughout is the variation of curricular areas which can be delivered through games.

Along with these curricular areas, Beauchamp highlights that “achieving particular educational objectives through the use of games was more dependent upon the teacher’s knowledge of the curriculum with which they were working than it was on their ability within the game.” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.10). This shows that teachers do not need to be experts when using Minecraft; children will always be better, but the teacher’s expertise should be with the curriculum learning gained.

Personally, I feel that I now have a better understanding of games based learning and the advantages of it as a classroom resource. I am further developing my digital skillset as a student teacher to be an effective educator to children in the present day.