Tuesday 5th March

This week’s session was called Games Based Learning and was focused around the use of the online game Minecraft. This is an online computer game which can also be played on Xbox, PS4 or Wii where the players have to build their own world using 3D blocks. It is about the player going on a never-ending adventure. Unfortunately, I had never played Minecraft before so I was at a slight disadvantage compared to some others who had played it when they were younger. To start off I had a little play about with the game to see if I could get my head around it to try and understand the concepts more, before looking to see how it could have any benefits in education. It is clear to see that computer games are a massive part of youth culture in the 21st century (Ofcom, 2001). Within my family alone, my younger brother has grown up attached to his Xbox and now his PS4. He plays it every single day, especially right after school for hours on end and is no different to many other boys/girls his age. From my own personal experience of being in the classroom as a teacher figure and also as a pupil, it was always boys who struggled to stay engaged in learning. Therefore, taking this gaming approach to teaching and learning could really work for some pupils without them even realising.

Today we looked specifically at the education edition of Minecraft and how this could work in the classroom. Our task was to come up with lesson ideas where we could use this game as part of the learning. Personally, I found this session quite difficult, mainly because I had no previous experience of playing Minecraft and so I could not get my head around how it could be used in the classroom. After having a chance to play about with the game for a bit and getting lots of help from others, I started to get to grips with it and could very quickly see how children can get extremely caught up in the game. This week I worked alongside 2 other people and reflecting back on how this worked compared to last weeks session on animation, I would say it went a lot better. Working in a group of 3 made it much easier to talk to each other and get really good, developed ideas. We were also able to ensure every person was fully involved and we got through the task much quicker and smoother.

Our approach to the task was to brainstorm areas of the curriculum where we could bring in Minecraft. We looked at maths, science, social studies and literacy. Firstly, the education edition of Minecraft has some amazing resources and so we were really spoiled for choice as to what we could use. Some ideas we came up with include:
• Maths – our lesson idea for this was based around fractions where the children can use the blocks to practice fractions. The blocks can represent anything from bricks to flowers and so we thought that using the multiplayer mode, children could practice giving 3 fifths of flowers to a friend, or 5 ninths of the bricks, for example.
• Social studies – we based the learning around historic castles, where children could have done some previous work on the topic including writing and research and now, they have the chance to use Minecraft to re-create their own version of a famous castle.
• Literacy – we thought the children could just play the game, take their character on a really fun adventure, create buildings, meet people and discover interesting things. Afterwards they then have to write about the adventure, including all details. I really liked this idea as it allows children to base their story on something real that they have experienced. From my previous experience in schools, this was something that some children found really difficult. They struggled to be creative and imaginative. Using Minecraft allows them to be both of these things without them even thinking about it and it then gives then confidence to go on and write about something they made for themselves.
• Science – the resources for this were really good and one activity we thought would be good was matching physical objects to the symbol shown on the periodic table. For example, iron ore is used lots in Minecraft and so children would then match the iron ore to the iron symbol on the periodic table. The difficulty of this would of course depend on the stage of the class.

At the end of the session, each group presented their ideas in front of the class which allowed us all to see the different approaches that were taken from it. We left with plenty ideas as to how this could be used in the classroom!

When I was in primary school, not too long ago, computer games being used in the classroom is something that I would imagine was never really considered. Whenever my teacher mentioned the word ‘games’ the class would associate that with ‘Golden Time’ which was 30 minutes of pure fun on a Friday afternoon. It was purely for our entertainment and a reward almost for our hard work throughout the week. It did not have any particular educational benefit. When taking this more modern approach to teaching it is important to really think about the skills the children are working on rather than it being used for entertainment purposes (Bray, 2012). As teachers, we have to look at gaming in a new way and bring it into the classroom and incorporate it effectively and appropriately within our lessons (Beauchamp, 2012). Beauchamp (2012) gives many skills that ICT games help to develop in children. Some of these include:
• Strategic Thinking
• Planning
• Communication
• Application of numbers
• Negotiating Skills
• Group decision-making
• Data Handling Skills.
(Beauchamp, 2012, p10)

The main CfE outcome that summaries the use of Minecraft is “I can explore and experiment with digital technologies and can use what I learn to support and enhance my learning in different contexts”. TCH 1-01a

Once I finally got to grips with Minecraft and how to work it, I really enjoyed the session. If nothing else, it gave me something to think about for going into the classroom next time. I think this would definitely be something I would like to try in the future and possibly explore other computer games where this approach could apply.

References

Beauchamp, G. (2012) ICT in the Primary School: From Pedagogy to Practice. Pearson.

Bray, O. (2012) Playful Learning: Computer Games in Education. [Online] https://www.slideshare.net/Microsofteduk/playful-learning-computer-games-in-education [Accessed: 1 April 2019]

Ofcom. (2001) Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes. [Online] Available: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/childrens/childrens-parents-media-use-attitudes-report [Accessed: 1 April 2019].