Minecraft in Schools

 

        MinecraftEdu, through its Finland-based parent company TeacherGaming LLC, has sold Minecraft licenses to more than 500 schools around the world — 100 of them use MinecraftEdu (Waxman). With all the technology in the world, some electronics have been leaking into schoolwork. The most used: Minecraft. This widely popular game has been used by people around the world to teach kids lessons.

 

        According to a national survey, of 500 teachers who use digital games in the classroom, 32 percent said that they use them 2-4 times a week; 18 percent use them everyday (Waxman). Seventy percent of these teachers said the games increased students’ motivation and engagement levels (Waxman). Many people have used Minecraft in schools, particularly Joel Levin, co-founder of TeacherGaming, and the creator of MinecraftEdu, a version of Minecraft with all inappropriate content removed, and special features for the instructors. MinecraftEdu has been used in multiple countries for all sorts of work and learning. Around the world, Minecraft is being used to educate children on everything from science to city planning to speaking a new language, said Levin (Bilton). Levin says that by using a game they all know and love, he can reach kids in ways he never has before (Sheehy).

 

         Levin held an after-school club for highschoolers to experience learning in Minecraft (Sheehy). "The first class was absolute anarchy," he says  (Sheehy). "Every single kid had a certain way they liked to play, and we had all these competing interests about what our game should look like” (Sheehy). After four weeks, the group underwent a big change (Sheehy). There were elections held, and the leaders aided the groups into exploration, research, building, and farming teams (Sheehy). "Minecraftian society itself is very primitive, and without strong leadership or drive, the whole thing falls apart," says Charles Yoshimura, a senior at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, and one of three people elected to lead the group (Sheehy). "Being the leader has been teaching me, and everyone else as well, the importance of societal structure and the way communities work” (Sheehy).

 

        Each and every member of the Minecraft community should work, but the leaders have envisioned a world, and have everyone working towards those goals(Sheehy). The most challenging part of his job is keeping everyone on task, but he has learned much about himself because of it, Yoshimura says (Sheehy). "I've really come into my own as a leader through the club and found that I am more outgoing than I thought I was before" (Sheehy). Many people other than Yoshimura and Levin have learned from the club, and Minecraft itself.

 

         Anyone can learn from Minecraft, especially kids. Kids can learn resource management from Minecraft (Kom). Many people overlook this aspect of games. For instance, you chop down a Minecraft tree. What do you use the wood for? Do you make an axe, so you could have more wood, or a pickaxe, so you can get stone to make better tools? You could also make a sword to get more food, or a shovel, to get dirt and sand, or a tool to garden for more food. You could use any of those to get materials to build a structure. The player never has infinite resources, so they must manage their materials wisely (Kom).

 

         People learn patience and perseverance from Minecraft (Kom). Nothing can happen automatically, it takes time to assemble all the resources you need (Kom). The buildings, monuments, and structures you make might not come out quite right the first time (Kom). A lot happens to the player’s creative side, too. They could be inspired by something in Minecraft, and do something in the real world.  Many things Minecraft players have built are amazing. There are giant  vehicles, detailed skyscrapers, working analog computers, and the entire country of Denmark exactly to scale (Kom). All of these traits are important in school and life. Perseverance brings to mind the quote “If you don’t succeed,  try, try again.” This quote is true in almost all aspects of life. If you try make a project, and it doesn’t work, what do you do? You could trash the project, or you could make modifications to it so it would work. You have to have patience to think of the modifications, and you must persevere if it doesn’t work again.

 

        Many people other than Joel Levin have used Minecraft or MinecraftEdu for educational reasons. Everywhere in the world, Minecraft, and other games, are being used for school.

People can play in prebuilt worlds, like a replica of Paris (Eiffel Tower included) or an ancient Mayan civilization (Bilton).  A history teacher in Australia set up missions for his class in which they explore ancient worlds (Bilton). In Denmark, an English language teacher let his class play Minecraft together in his class, but they could only speak, through speech and writing in English (Bilton). In California, a science teacher taught his students about gravity while in Minecraft (Bilton).                                       

Eric Walker, a teacher at the American School in Kuwait, built a world that students can explore to learn about ancient civilizations and geography (Waxman). Foreign language teachers  ask students to write and speak the language that they are learning whenever they use MinecraftEdu (Waxman). An Australian science teacher, Stephen Elford, demonstrates how particles can turn into a solid, liquid, and gas (Waxman).  Levin says his students bring up Minecraft in classes that don’t even use it, and are building new skills along the way (Waxman). They’re writing poems about Minecraft, and learning how to program on their own so that they can write their own mods (Waxman). They’re using their artistic skills to change the graphics, and are learning about video production so they can make their own Minecraft videos (Waxman).   Games like Minecraft also encourage what researchers call “parallel play,” where children are playing their game but are still connected (Bilton). Children who play games could even become better doctors (Bilton). A study at Iowa State University that found that surgeons performed better and were more accurate when they regularly played video games (Bilton). “Minecraft extends kids’ spatial reasoning skills, construction skills and understanding of planning,” said Eric Klopfer, a professor and the director of MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program. “In many ways, it’s like a digital version of Lego” (Bilton). A school in Stockholm made Minecraft required for 13-year-old students. “They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future,” said Monica Ekman, a teacher at the Viktor Rydberg school (Bilton). Minecraft has helped schools in many ways and will continue being helpful in the many years to come.

Minecraft is just one part of the bigger picture. Everywhere around the world, games and electronics are being used. A study by S.R.I. International, a Silicon Valley research group that specializes in technology, found that game-based play could raise cognitive learning for students by as much as 12 percent and improve hand-eye coordination, problem-solving ability and memory (Bilton). Electronic games everywhere can change the world.

Works Cited:

Bilton, Nick. "Disruptions: Minecraft, an Obsession and an Educational Tool."Bits Disruptions Minecraft an Obsession and an Educational Tool Comments. Nytimes, 15 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

 

Kom, Kim, and Special For USA TODAY O. "Five Things Minecraft Teaches Kids." USA Today. Gannett, 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

 

Sheehy, Kelsey. "High School Teachers Make Gaming Academic." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 1 Nov. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

 

Waxman, Olivia B. "MinecraftEdu Teaches Students Through Virtual World-Building." Time. Time, 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Winner. Digital image. Minecraft Forum. Robin009988, 29 June 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.