Tuesday 5th March

Today in digital technologies we learned about the importance of game-based learning. Game-based learning can be described as “a type of game play that has defined learning outcomes.” (EdTechReview, 2013). Now a days many children are interested in this kind of learning. A report from Ofcom stated, “The use of computer games, particularly console games, is firmly embedded in 21st century youth culture.” (Ofcom, 2001). There are many benefits of it, and it may come across more appealing to those who don’t enjoy sitting and writing. Our session was based on the use of Minecraft: education edition. For those who don’t know what Minecraft is, it is a game where players are able to place and break 3D block to create their own worlds. We focussed on the experience and outcome that stated “I am developing problem-solving strategies, navigation and co-ordination skills, as I play and learn with electronic games, remote control or programmable toys” TCH 0-09a / TCH 1-09a. Particularly focusing on the electronic game aspect.

To begin we got a chance to download the game and have a play around with it. I had previously played Minecraft when I was younger, so I felt I had an advantage over some others as I knew how to work the normal version. However, there were some different aspects to the education version. It explored different curricular areas such as science and maths. Our task was to create a few activities to cover these areas that could be used in a classroom. This week I worked in a group of 3. I felt that by working in a smaller group compared to last week was hugely beneficially. Everyone was able to have an equal say and overall, we managed to complete the task a lot quicker. I used many skills when working in my team which included, good listening and communicating and making sure I was being an effective group member.

Recently, a survey was carried out by Futurelab showing that 79% of 737 children aged five to 15 played computer games at home (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010). This shows the large number of children that play computer games in their everyday life. By introducing this into school, children will be more likely to complete their game related work to a higher quality, raising attainment. Beauchamp stated, “In recent years, interest has grown considerably in the potential for play to form the basis for learning.” (Beauchamp, 2012, p.9). From this growth children and teachers are both becoming fonder towards using game-based learning as a form of play and all the benefits to go along with it including improving the focus of pupils. However, many feel as though teachers may struggle to get a grip with the new technology and making sure children are using it appropriately (Beauchamp, 2012). I feel this is incorrect and that most teachers will be able to over come this obstacle to provide fun, quality learning.

We choose to focus on Mathematics, Language, Social Studies and Science. Firstly, we brainstormed all our ideas onto an A3 piece of paper. We were then able to pick the best ideas to use. For maths there were lots of different directions to go down. We then concluded that it would be useful for fractions. Pupils can join onto each other’s world and use materials from the game asking each other “Can you show me 3/5 in flowers?”. This is just one of many possible examples. For language we thought children could create a creative story based on their world they were able to create on Minecraft. From this they can use their imagination to make their world come alive. Next, for social studies, we believed history would be a good idea. For example, if learning about Scotland and its castles, children could be asked to go onto Minecraft and create their own castle or try to recreate a famous castle. Lastly, for science there were many activities on Minecraft for pupils. There were all the elements of the periodic table available. We thought this would be good to use with the upper school to see if they could match the element symbols with the names or even use the lab tables to create different products such as water. Attached below is a picture of our A3 mind map and our official activity plans.

In the end we presented our ideas in our groups. I found this helpful as I was able to take notes of everyone else’s ideas. These may come in useful when we begin lesson planning next year. After each presentation we provided feedback for each group, positive and negative. My group were told that it was good how we linked our activities to class topics. However, next time we could try to make cross curricular links between the different tasks. We took this information on board and if another task like this is carried out, we would make these changes.

I personally feel Minecraft would be a useful in classrooms. It can engage children and has so many educational benefits. It would be an exciting task for children to carry out and share with each other. I really enjoyed getting to use the game and believe game-based learning is a positive direction to move in.

References 

EdTechReview (2013) What is GBL (Game-Based Learning)? [Online] Available: edtechreview.in/dictionary/298-what-is-game-based-learning [Accessed 11 March 2019]

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

Ofcom (2001) Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes [Online] Available: https://www.slideshare.net/Microsofteduk/playful-learning-computer-games-in-education [Accessed 10 March 2019]

Groff, J., Howells, C. et. al. (2010) The impact of console games in the classroom. Learning and Teaching Scotland.