Bray (2012) states that games based learning has the most transformational impact when it is combined with good learning and teaching.
I have been thoroughly looking forward to this class! I cannot imagine how using games in the classroom could NOT engage children and enhance learning! (when used the right way obviously!) Today we were focused on the hugely popular game Minecraft.
“Minecraft is a worldwide phenomenon. Since it was first released back in 2011, its been taken to the hearts of thousands and thousands of gamers.” (How to do Everything in Minecraft, 2014. p.3)
Minecraft is a game in which the player can build a variety of things using 3D blocks, the world in which the gamer creates is limitless and the use of creativity and imagination is paramount. Minecraft have created an Education edition of Minecraft, which I think is absolutely wonderful!!
“WHAT IS MINECRAFT: EDUCATION EDITION? Minecraft: Education Edition is an open-world game that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive environment where the only limit is your imagination.” Mojang, Minecraft, 2019)
Here is a link to the Minecraft website, which is absolutely bursting full of ideas of how the game can be used in the classroom, to cover a multitude of subjects, from Chemistry to Mathematics. The use of this game in education is limitless!! https://education.minecraft.net
Our task today was to think of a way to use Minecraft effectively in the classroom, using our imagination and creative sides! We decided to focus on second level and choose renewable energy as our topic for our activity.
In the game, the learner would need to build their homes using renewable energy and also keep their world going economically. The children would need to do prior research in the topic of renewable energy, focusing on:
- Its pros and cons.
- The different types of renewable energy.
- The difference between these.
- Understanding how climate and cost can affect the use of renewable energy.
The children would work collaboratively in groups, choosing their preferred energy of choice and a suited region in Minecraft, which would work well with their chosen source of energy. In the photo bellow, it shows the experiences and outcomes in which we hope the activity could cover.
I think that the use of game based learning in the classroom is crucial to our evolving learners and teachers! To be able to use a game like Minecraft to empty out your never-ending realms of imagination and creativity, is just fantastic! The positives for children with learning and behavioural difficulties are huge: Inclusion, Collaboration, diversity, strategic thinking (without the need of pencil to paper), communication, planning. The positives are almost endless…of course, there is negatives…possible negatives! The ability to get children moving onto another task may prove to be difficult if they are completely in the zone and engaged. But as this sort of activity would be on-going, the knowledge that they will go back to it may just be enough!
I have really enjoyed looking into the possibilities of Minecraft and its endless ways of implementing various areas of the curriculum for excellence!
References
- Bray, O. (2012) Playful Learning: Computer Games in Education. https://www.slideshare.net/Microsofteduk/playful-learning-computer-games-in-education [Accessed 20 March 2019]
- Magbook (2014) How to Do Everything in Minecraft
- Education Scotland. (n.d.) Curriculum for Excellence.[Online] Available: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/All-experiencesoutcomes18.pdf [Accessed: 20 March 2019]
