I felt like we were merely fumbling around rather than creating educational experience for the students. Our school has a robust technology platform, which means we could communicate and collaborate however it was boring and boring. I wanted to engage my students and give something beneficial, and because I am a fan of the game and programming, I recommended incorporating Minecraft into our classes. It proved to be enjoyable for my students, and I noticed that, in the world of games, they were motivated to tackle even the most boring and monotonous tasks. Then I thought: Wow! This is a great idea with immense potential.
CSG Minecraft offers an educational version. There are many teachers who write about how they use the game during their classes. Did you find it inspiring?
SH: I took an eye, and I did not think that they were making use of Minecraft’s capabilities. A majority of them were just moving classes to the virtual world. My first idea that I thought of was to let my students construct the coronavirus’s structure that contained its proteins and spikes. It worked very well. For the next German lesson, I created an entire world. I allowed one group to search for the treasure, using specific coordinates. They then wrote instructions for others to discover it too. The students weren’t required for a sketch of a plan however, they were asked to write a precise written description of the steps to get from their starting point to the final destination. The other groups read the directions and then set out to find the treasure. Once they had found it, they offered the first group suggestions regarding how they could enhance the instructions to allow others to find the treasure faster.
“Minecraft is a good way to simulate situations that they can’t observe in real life.”
SH Minecraft is a great method to create scenarios that aren’t possible to observe in reality. For instance, take the subject of biodiversity, for instance When students kill one species in the online world, they will be able to see how that impacts the ecosystem and how it impacts the other creatures that live in it. Of course, you could offer students a book to read which explains the same information, but it’s not identical. When you create something within Minecraft, you don’t know what will happen. Minecraft world, it is difficult to be sure of how chain reactions are likely to occur. A student of mine eliminated all spiders living in her world. Then, all the environment was drained. The other animals vanished, and all that was left other than desert. She was afraid about having ended the world. In Minecraft, it’s an emotionally charged experience.
CSG: How have other teachers responded to the ‘Minelearning’ initiative??
SH: My students were intrigued, and several were asking my students, “Are you just playing games with Mr. Huber? What activities do you engage in during the classroom?” They discovered that it’s not just a game; however, there is a real purpose to the games. The teachers are now in my class to see what’s happening.
To allow ‘Minelearning’ its feet, it needs to be simple for teachers to utilize. I’ve shared with my colleagues that initially, it requires a lot of time and energy to plan an entire lesson. There are technical obstacles to overcome, but after that it’s fantastic. However, the majority of teachers are prone to abandon the project as soon as they run into technical issues and then return to traditional teaching.
“We’ve had some really important conversations in the classroom about behavior on the internet, which is often completely different from behavior in the real world.”
CSG: You’ve talked about the use of ‘Minelearning’ in teaching science as well as German. Did you use it for other subjects?
SH: I’m currently working on an extremely complicated ethics lesson where half of the students are gods and have the power to make anything happen anywhere in the world. the remaining half are mortals living in the world, with three islands that are full of diverse resources. Gods must establish equitable rules for the world, while the’mortals must work together to create bridges and gather as many resources as they can.
The Minecraft lessons offer an interesting opportunity to study and discuss the behavior of students on the internet. Initially, some students would be amused by the idea of sprinkle dynamite on the floor and destroy the work of other students. I thought about altering the program so that it made this impossible, but then decided to make them think twice, askingthem “Why did you cause such destruction to the work of your teacher? Would you walk over to his office and tear up his work? No, of course not.” It’s never happened twice.
There have been some very important discussions in class about the how we behave online that is usually different from what happens that happens in real life. Students must be aware that the feelings of others could be hurt, even if it’s playing a game online or just. It’s crucial to educate students and assist them understand what to do in a virtual world.
Stefan Huber teaches at Sek Eins Hofe, a public secondary school located in central Switzerland. He is among the Educreators 2020 award winners.
Sek Eins Hofe is a school for public secondary students located in Pfaffikon, located within central Switzerland. The school is designed to prepare students from 12 to 15 for entry into an elite high school or vocational education.
“The Mininglearning‘ project makes use of the programmable and flexible Minecraft game world to help students understand complex topics interactively. Gaming and learning together encourages students to not just explore the subjects of school like biology, language and ethics but to consider their choices on the internet as well as in the real world.
