A Parent's Guide to Minecraft: 5 Reasons to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Cubes There were zombies to the left of me, creepers to the right. I was cowering in a deep, square hole in the darkness while skeletons rained arrows over my head. What I really needed at that moment was a 10-year-old with some serious sword skills. I was, of course, a noob about to die inside Minecraft. Calling Minecraft a game doesn’t do it justice; it’s more like a movement. A creeper inside Minecraft. Accounting Made for You, the Non-Accountant It’s what’s known as a “sandbox” game, meaning that there is no end to it and no overarching goal. Minecraft worlds are made up of chunky graphics reminiscent of the earliest video games. You can play Minecraft by yourself, with a handful of friends, or connect online with total strangers. Emotionally immersiveBut what’s most remarkable about Minecraft is how utterly consuming it is. The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card. TD Canada Trust Sponsored Obsession isn’t the only concern. 1. Scotiabank®* Gold American Express® Card 2. Amex SimplyCash card 3.
Minecraft's potential in today's classrooms Gaming, including Minecraft, has important implications for students Gaming is gaining more and more momentum in education, and one of the most popular games today is Minecraft, which educators are using in innovative ways in classrooms across the country. Minecraft is a “sandbox” game that includes game-like components but offers users flexibility to build the game in any way they desire. The game offers different modes and approaches and is highly modifiable and flexible. Though the game itself is popular, using it in classrooms based only on its popularity won’t work magic on students. But following best practices and a few important rules can help increase student engagement, said Marianne Malmstrom, cognitive architect at The Elisabeth Morrow School (N.J.). (Next page: Minecraft’s potential for learning)
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. The Wil Wheaton Project premieres on Syfy on May 27 at 10 ET. It's like Talk Soup for geeks! If you'd like to build your knowledge further (and have fun at the same time), subscribe to 5facts on YouTube for a new video every week. 1. In the very early days, developer Markus "Notch" Persson referred to the humble sandbox builder as "Cave Game," but later changed it to Minecraft. 2. The government of Denmark recreated its entire nation, block-for-block, in Minecraft to get kids excited about geography. 3. The Creeper is based on a pig model gone horribly wrong. 4. 5. One man is trying.
Danish government creates Minecraft version of ENTIRE country to help Geography teachers Entire country was recreated by government's mapping departmentMinecraft lesson plans for teachers also created in bid to make education more accessible By Mark Prigg Published: 22:06 GMT, 25 April 2014 | Updated: 23:01 GMT, 25 April 2014 The Danish government has recreated the entire country in the hit computer game Minecraft. The first country to be fully transplanted into the blocky Minecraft games, the government hopes it could help make lessons more fun for students. It has even produced a series of lesson plans for teachers to help them navigate the virtual version of their country. Scroll down for video Denmark's Ministry of the Environment has created a full-scale model of the country in Minecraft for players to explore. The downloadable model consists of 4,000 billion blocks and requires one terabyte of storage space. Minecraft was created in 2009. They can then walk around different terrains, including mountains, forests and caves. 'The imagination is the only the limit. Loaded: 0%
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. The awards were given in the categories of arts, math, language arts, science and social studies. The winners are being profiled in a continuing Tribune series this week and in a half-hour documentary airing Thursday at 7 p.m. on KUED-Channel 7. TribTalk: Celebrating innovation As digital devices increasingly appear in Utah classrooms, the challenge is using them effectively in teaching. You can join the discussion by sending questions and comments to the hashtag #TribTalk on Twitter and Google+. story continues below
Cool Stuff Rachel & I Learned in Minecraft This Weekend <div class="greet_block wpgb_cornered"><div class="greet_text"><div class="greet_image"><a href=" rel="nofollow"><img src=" alt="WP Greet Box icon"/></a></div>Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to <a href=" rel="nofollow"><strong>subscribe to the RSS feed</strong></a> for updates on this topic.<div style="clear:both"></div></div></div> Yesterday and today my 10 year old daughter and I played Minecraft for at least six combined hours. Playing Minecraft as we did is absolutely a “flow” experience for me, and likely for her as well. Alexander had taught me how to make a crafting table, a furnace, how to create basic weapons and tools, how to mine, and how to build. Here is a partial list of some of the cool things I learned to do in Minecraft for the first time this weekend with Rachel:
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. The gender gap in science, technology, engineering and math fields has many educators worried, but those working with young coders say games could be an effective way to spark girls’ interest. In a New York Times op-ed Nitasha Tiku writes that Minecraft, in particular, has made it to the mainstream. “A hundred students were on ThoughtSTEM’s waiting list for its first Minecraft class two months ago. Related Explore: coding, Minecraft
A Beginner’s Guide to Minecraft in an Elementary Classroom | Wayfaring Path “What’s it called again, Craftmine?” I wondered aloud with a confused look on my face to a classroom full of nine year olds, playing dumb the whole time. “It’s MINECRAFT!” they all yelled back in unison, smiling and laughing at how out-of-touch their teacher was with their world. The truth was, however, that I was playing them from the day I first mentioned any knowledge of Minecraft’s existence. The seed had been planted and the path I was about to lead them down had begun. The Research Phase: The impetus for experimenting with MinecraftEdu in my class started three months prior, as I set myself up for a task that I thought would be challenging, but manageable. Wayfaringpath Photography For months before uttering the word Minecraft in front of my students, I had been searching for anything related to Minecraft to give me some background knowledge with the game, as I had none. I had finally found a landscape and biome that was close enough to my vision that I was happy moving on.
wiki 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 is a $7 app that I use with a class set of iPads during my media arts class. (There is also a free version, but you can’t save on it.) If you don’t have access to iPads, Minecraft Edu is another option. When I first started using Minecraft, I had no idea what this game was all about or why it was so addicting to my students. Getting Started: Since I was new to Minecraft, I asked a few students to lead class demonstrations. Minecraft Project #1: Convert a drawing to a Minecraft I started off the project with my students creating a grid drawing on Drawcast. Minecraft project #2: Connect architecture with other subject areas Minecraft project #3: Play together using virtual structures built by students Want to try Minecraft in your art curriculum?
Teachers Transform Minecraft for Class Use Digital Tools Teaching Strategies MinecraftEDU By Katrina Schwartz Educators have been tapping into the wildly popular online game Minecraft for its potential as a learning tool for a while now — to teach physics, math, and computer science. But until recently, the game was mostly the territory of computer science teachers, and even they were forced to use the commercial version of the online game. So a few months ago, two teachers, Santeri Koivisto and Joel Levin, decided to make the software more accessible and relevant to teachers. Teachers like to use Minecraft because it’s a “sandbox” game — it provides players nearly limitless freedom to build within it. “Many educational games start with the question, ‘What should we teach with the game?’ Koivisto and Levin decided to pursue a classroom application after observing students solve complicated problems with their collaboration in the game. “Many educational games start with the question ‘What should we teach with the game?’ Related
Minecraft homeschool: Incredible educational Minecraft inspiration from all over - Mankato Homeschooling Do your kids love Minecraft? Why not take advantage of that and use Minecraft to help teach history, science, language arts and more? There are dozens of wonderful sites on the internet designed to help parents and teachers use Minecraft to teach kids. Here's some of the best. Getting Started in Minecraft: From Zero to Punching Wood Here's the basics on how to buy, install and play Minecraft. MinecraftEdu This educator's site is focused on helping teachers use Minecraft in their classrooms. Note: as of this time, homeschoolers are not eligible for the discounted educator rate on Minecraft through MinecraftEdu. jokaydia Minecrafts jokaydia Minecrafts is the newest project within the jokaydian suite of tools, and provides a game-based learning environment for kids. This extensive site is dedicated to "playful learning" and hosts lots of ideas and resources. Minecraft Teachers on Google Groups This is an active discussion board for asking questions and sharing ideas. Gaming Educators Craft Academy