The halls of my schools used to be filled with the screams of students chasing after each other. Now the are silent with occasional shout as a group of students release their frustration or something. It is hard to tell because they are standing in a clump with their heads pressed together.
When I ask what they are doing that shout back “minecraft!” Up to now, I never understood the allure of this game. As a teacher and a gamer, this one never really got me hooks. I have watched the students play this game over the past few years and even had them explain the basics to me. Yet I was at a loss. It just looked so boring.
However, I recently came across “Minecraft: Education Edition” my mind started spinning. It is a whole site and program centered around using minecraft in the classroom. I kept thinking, “my students will love this, but how to create a lesson from this.”
From their site, it looks pretty promising. So for this artifact, I decided to work through the tutorials and build a house within the game world. This was not an easy task despite thinking that it would only take me moments.
After a few youtube videos, I was starting to make progress and I could see the possibilities for use in my ESl classrooms. A lesson centred around task-based learning and related vocabulary could prove useful.
Learning to change the game modes and actually create something was a huge accomplishment for me but I could see how you could get lost in this game. With added educational features, I could also see how my students could show and present their work.
With the popularity of this game, it would be a huge boost in the interest of my classroom and in my lessons. The only obstacle that I could see is that the school would eventually have to purchase a license. With the trial, you are only allowed 10 logins before you are locked out.
The final thoughts about this game are that my students are more creative that I previously thought. This game is a blank slate in my eyes and my students are using their creative skills to build new environments every day. There is the capacity for them to learn new vocabulary sets and show off their creative skill in another language. The possibilities are endless.
ESL Tech Talk 