Today in class we were joined by an educator from Colquitz Middle School and some of her learners. They discussed Minecraft in schools and how it can be used to engage even the most disruptive/distracted classes.

There are different modes used in Minecraft: creative and survival. In creative mode you can fly, travel over obstacles such as mountains and water and create whatever you want.

In Minecraft EDU, creative mode and survival mode are blended. The teacher can put limitations on the world and can allow the limitations to lesson over time. Students have to decide what goes with what to produce what. They do phenomenal things by creating and memorizing codes. Kids can get timeouts and their characters can be frozen if you need to talk/address the entire class.

Here is a link to the MinecraftEDU website.

It is also a way for students to learn math concepts such as X and Y axes, area, perimeter, and ratios.

Minecraft may become addictive to students and may cause them to lose interest in other school subjects. That is why it must be used in a positive and purposeful way.