Personally, I feel that there are a ton of learning opportunities within the world(s) of Minecraft. I am a mother of two teens, who are self taught people. They have learned to read, write, research, explore life and enjoy the ways that they learn from doing Distance Ed at home. We went onto Minecraft because my 15 year old son said "Mom you are going to love this!" He was right.. we do love it. Much more than that, we are helping other young people within the Distance Ed program we support to also learn through using Minecraft as well.
So far, we have spent time on Social Studies, using research to build Mayan Temples, the Kilkenny Castle from Ireland, and ships from different time periods. We are in the process of learning about our home country, Canada, and making buildings and areas of life from different eras as well in terms of social history. We discussed 3D math problems, and even more importantly, helped our kids to find out how they learn.. not just what they learn. They are responsible for driving their own learning motivations.. if you like something, you will learn from it. If you hate it, most likely you will remember the info for as long as you need it (ie till the test) and then happily forget the whole thing at the end. I'm glad that the information my own kids are learning is done with a great game that actually makes them laugh and want to learn.
We use Minecraft in all sorts of areas including discussing ores (geology), how plants really grow (plant biology), the N S E W factor (following the sun and finding your way back without torches at night) (geography and mapping techniques). There were discussions around "How would I get back home if i was lost in the woods after biking up a trail that no one really knew about?" (Wilderness survival skills) You name it.. we can find ways to talk about it, and then research online how to make those things worthwhile to them. These are things they DON'T forget, because the questions were real questions that made sense to them... not just a bunch of pieces of non important facts that slip by after the C+ is given.
One of the biggest things we talked about with the Mayan temple was how the slaves who created the temple must have ripped apart the landscape to find the materials in order to create that huge of a building. What a great discussion about slavery, as well as the human footprint (impact) on the Earth, and how long it must have taken to create such a big temple, which meant it must have meant alot to the Mayan society at the time.. the reasons for making a temple, and how the Mayan society felt about worship. Tons to learn.. tons to explore..
At the moment, we are trying to get our own server set up for other youth that we are involved with in our D Ed program to help promote active motivation towards learning creatively with MInecraft.. there will be no end to what they can do!
Notch.. incredible, truly just incredible. Thanks for the time you put into this.
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So far, we have spent time on Social Studies, using research to build Mayan Temples, the Kilkenny Castle from Ireland, and ships from different time periods. We are in the process of learning about our home country, Canada, and making buildings and areas of life from different eras as well in terms of social history. We discussed 3D math problems, and even more importantly, helped our kids to find out how they learn.. not just what they learn. They are responsible for driving their own learning motivations.. if you like something, you will learn from it. If you hate it, most likely you will remember the info for as long as you need it (ie till the test) and then happily forget the whole thing at the end. I'm glad that the information my own kids are learning is done with a great game that actually makes them laugh and want to learn.
We use Minecraft in all sorts of areas including discussing ores (geology), how plants really grow (plant biology), the N S E W factor (following the sun and finding your way back without torches at night) (geography and mapping techniques). There were discussions around "How would I get back home if i was lost in the woods after biking up a trail that no one really knew about?" (Wilderness survival skills) You name it.. we can find ways to talk about it, and then research online how to make those things worthwhile to them. These are things they DON'T forget, because the questions were real questions that made sense to them... not just a bunch of pieces of non important facts that slip by after the C+ is given.
One of the biggest things we talked about with the Mayan temple was how the slaves who created the temple must have ripped apart the landscape to find the materials in order to create that huge of a building. What a great discussion about slavery, as well as the human footprint (impact) on the Earth, and how long it must have taken to create such a big temple, which meant it must have meant alot to the Mayan society at the time.. the reasons for making a temple, and how the Mayan society felt about worship. Tons to learn.. tons to explore..
At the moment, we are trying to get our own server set up for other youth that we are involved with in our D Ed program to help promote active motivation towards learning creatively with MInecraft.. there will be no end to what they can do!
Notch.. incredible, truly just incredible. Thanks for the time you put into this.
Lori from Canada
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