Opinion: We’ll never need a Minecraft 2. Earlier this year Microsoft acquired indie developer Mojang for $2.5 billion.
It was a big move, and it left many fans wondering how it might effect Mojang’s hit game Minecraft. In a recent interview with IGN, Xbox head Phil Spencer talked about the desire to meet the needs of the game’s community. He said that Minecraft 2 may not make the most sense, and his words were followed by every fan of the game breathing a sigh of relief. Minecraft already does what it was created to do perfectly, why would it ever need a sequel?
Why it works so well. The 10 Best Kid-Friendly Minecraft Channels on YouTube. How Videogames Like Minecraft Actually Help Kids Learn to Read. Brecht Vandenbroucke Minecraft is the hot new videogame among teachers and parents.
It's considered genuinely educational: Like an infinite set of programmable Lego blocks, it's a way to instill spatial reasoning, math, and logic—the skills beloved by science and technology educators. But from what I've seen, it also teaches something else: good old-fashioned reading and writing. How does it do this? A Lesson in Digital Learning from Minecraft How might today's technology eco-system further meaningful, progressive education?
This question was posed by Dr. Mimi Ito during her plenary, The Digital Revolution, at The Future of Learning Institute this past July at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. As Dr. Ito pointed out, most learning technologies reinforce traditional models of instruction. They may seek to teach, but they do little to foster purposeful learning. Let MinecraftEdu help you build learning. Can Minecraft teach team building? It was October.
My Introduction to Computer Science class had been meeting for two months, and we were deep into a discussion about game design. One of my students gestured casually at the student across the room. “That’s right! ‘Minecraft’ 101: Get to Know the Blocky Blockbuster. It’s official: Minecraft is now owned by Microsoft.
The price? A cool $2.5 billion, which, even in a world where big money regularly flies back and forth, seems extravagant for a company with one hit video game to its credit. The Minecraft Cell: Biology Meets Game-Based Learning. Minecraft, the popular sandbox game, is beloved by educators for its use as a learning tool.
It enables students to explore, create and imagine in a completely different way than they could ever do in a traditional classroom. The beauty of the game is in the way it unleashes the creativity of both students and teachers. But for Minecraft novices like me, it's hard to know exactly where to begin unleashing all that creativity. If you're just getting started with Minecraft, it might be helpful to use the game in an activity of your own design. Enhance Classroom Learning With Minecraft. The secret of Minecraft — The Message. This wouldn’t be enough on its own.
Obscure techniques have been a part of video games from the beginning; Nintendo Power surely had a dusting of secret knowledge. What’s different here is that Minecraft connects this lure to the objective not of beating the game, but making more of the game. “Game” doesn’t even do it justice. What we’re really talking about here is a generative, networked system laced throughout with secrets. Minecraft in edu. How to Make Your Macbook a WiFi Access Point for Minecraft PE. Minecraft Boundaries & Volcanoes Project. Use Minecraft to Teach Economics. Mike Rugnetta’s video inspired me to think about how Minecraft can be used to teach economics.
If you have played Minecraft (adventure mode) before, you would know that the 3D procedurally generated world contains limited resources for you to use to survive. This means that your tools, food and natural resources can be used up. This feature of the game can help illustrate the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Content Standards You might be asking, “What grade could I use Minecraft to teach economics?”. Grade 1: 1.6 Students understand basic economic concepts and the role of individual choice in a free-market economy. 1. 2. 2nd Grade: 2.4 Students understand basic economic concepts and their individual roles in the economy and demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills. 1. 2. 3. 3rd Grade 3.5 Students demonstrate basic economic reasoning skills and an understanding of the economy of the local region. New Minecraft Mod Teaches You Code as You Play.
Like many nine-year-olds, Stanley Strum spends a lot of time building things in Minecraft, the immersive game that lets your create your own mini-universe.
The game has many tools. But Stanley is one of many players taking the game a step further by building entirely new features into the game. And, more than that, he’s also learning how to code. How Kids Are Learning to Code While Playing Minecraft. Wiki. MinecraftEdu. Can Minecraft Foster a Growth Mindset? Principal Matt Renwick is sharing weekly reflections about an afternoon computer club he and a teacher are sponsoring as an enrichment activity.
(Here are the links to this eight-part series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7 and Part 8.) My co-teacher Renee was sitting next to two students while they played within one of their Minecraft worlds on their iPads. 5 Minecraft Facts You Didn't Know. Minecraft might be the most important and influential indie of all time, but how much do you really know about this blockbuster video game? (See what we did there?) We've assembled five fresh facts for you to build your knowledge of the sandbox smash hit. Special thanks to the hilarious Wil Wheaton (hallowed be thy name) for keeping an eye on the #5facts team for this episode. Minecraft Is Shaping A Generation, And That Is A Good Thing. Minecraft's virtual worlds can teach real U.S. history.
Minecraft’s virtual worlds can teach real U.S. history Taylorsville » Minecraft explorers worldwide excavate sand to smelt into glass, diamonds to hone into swords and redstone to power millions of digital creations. Amber Palmer’s fifth-graders visit the Minecraft universe to dig into U.S. history. Airing Thursday o Five Utah teachers have been selected for KUED-The Salt Lake Tribune Teacher Innovation Awards, which celebrate their creative use of technology in classrooms. Could Minecraft Be the Hook to Get Girls Interested in Coding? Teaching Strategies As coding becomes the lingua franca of the future, girls are still hesitant to embrace it. Last year, only 18.5 percent of those who took the AP computer science test were girls, a slight drop from the previous year.
Teachers Take Game-Based Learning to the Next Level. The days of video games being restricted to an after-school activity are quickly becoming numbered, as teachers continue to find fresh applications for game-based learning. John Kielman wrote about "Minecraft"'s impact on K–12 classrooms in an April 28 article in The Chicago Tribune, saying the game's "virtual LEGOs" motivate kids through a technology that's fun and familiar to them. Teachers have found several educational functions for the building-block game by incorporating it into lessons on ancient architecture, history and engineering, according to Kielman.
And because the design of the lesson is something they're familiar with, the kids are more engaged. That's the essence of game-based learning. It's not a new concept, but educators are coming up with fresh ideas every day to interest students and motivate them to learn. A Beginner’s Guide to Minecraft in an Elementary Classroom. Using Minecraft in the Classroom - Center for Educational Improvement.
By Victoria Zelvin. Not too long ago, I briefly touched on some video games that are already making a difference in classrooms. Included in that list was the very popular game Minecraft, which is being used as a teaching tool already. The very popular game is being extensively described as a creativity engine, or video game Legos, but what does it really offer? How does Minecraft work? How can Minecraft be utilized as a tool in the classroom, in tandem with other lessons? In Survival mode, I smelt clay into bricks, which I then make into blocks for my house.
Minecraft thrives on exploration and creativity, but most of all it is a game that thrives on projects. What does all this mean for teachers and educators? MinecraftEdu offers many resources to the skeptical or perhaps overwhelmed to help them get started. “What happens when we give students an alternate reality in which to play, experiment, create, collaborate — and yes — sometimes make a hot mess of failure?”
Using Minecraft in Your Art Curriculum. The following is a guest post written by Bo Gorcesky, a Middle school Media Arts teacher passionate about sharing educational technology findings. Once an independent filmmaker, Bo now touches lives with technology. Minecraft homeschool: Incredible educational Minecraft inspiration from all over - Mankato Homeschooling. Generation Blockhead: How Minecraft Mods The Grown-Ups Of Tomorrow. Minecraft in the Classroom Teaches Reading and More. The secret of Minecraft — The Message.
Explee - Create engaging and memorable animated videos - Explee. Minecraft's potential in today's classrooms. Cool Stuff Rachel & I Learned in Minecraft This Weekend. Teachers Transform Minecraft for Class Use. Minecraft: Teachers love the game, but as a parent, I’m worried my kids are obsessed. A Parent's Guide to Minecraft: 5 Reasons to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Cubes. Danish government creates Minecraft version of ENTIRE country to help Geography teachers.