Computer Teacher Uses Minecraft as Curriculum

[Tom Goldman]

Computer Teacher Uses Minecraft as Curriculum

A New York City school is exposing America's children to the wonders of Minecraft at an early age.

If you're like me, computer class in grade school consisted of Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego, Number Munchers, and maybe a little of the Logo programming language. Oh, how things have changed. Today, in at least one New York School, kids in computer class get to play Minecraft.

At the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, first and second grade computer teacher Joel Levin developed an experimental Minecraft teaching unit that was designed to let kids explore, build, and collaborate within the game. He wasn't sure how it'd go over. Much to his surprise, the students took to Minecraft like they do to sniffing scented markers.

Levin allows his students to play in a modified Minecraft world that doesn't include monsters. His classes aren't so much focused on teaching kids to play Minecraft as they are on using Minecraft as a canvas for them to be creative with. In one situation, Levin had to take animals out of the game because students were just killing them all over the place, which wasn't in the spirit of his lessons.

Levin's blog, appropriately called Minecraft Teacher [http://minecraftteacher.net/], explains the experiment from its beginnings. However, the best way to see how awesome it'd be to take a Minecraft class is to just watch one of Levin's lessons that he filmed and put on YouTube. One is embedded below and features the kids building after 12 minutes in. For school credit! These kids have it good.


Thanks for the tip GraelHart [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/GraelHart]!

Source: Kotaku [http://minecraftteacher.net/]


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[Hungry Donner]

My six-year-old son, who's in Kindergarten at the moment, loves Minecraft and I could definitely see using it in a classroom situation like this. It's a great way to get kids to think in three dimensions, to consider resource management, and the effects of their actions. With a little work it could also be a good demonstration of ecological preservation versus the 'progress' of civilization: anyone who has massacred a forest for lumber, or had to empty out a pond to build something, knows what I'm talking about

 

[Korten12]

sweet, wish they did this in my school.

 

[killamanhunter]

Now history teachers will be using Civilization to teach kids general history, and Call of Duty to teach kids World War II

 

[Neverhoodian]

Ah, I remember our computer teacher using games to teach us things back in grade school. Sim City 2000, Oregon Trail, Mario Teaches Typing...good times. It's nice to see Minecraft being used to continue that tradition.

Levin allows his students to play in a modified Minecraft world that doesn't include monsters. His classes aren't so much focused on teaching kids to play Minecraft as they are on using Minecraft as a canvas for them to be creative with.

So..."Peaceful" mode, then?

In one situation, Levin had to take animals out of the game because students were just killing them all over the place, which wasn't in the spirit of his lessons.

Hah, that reminds me of how most boys played Oregon Trail at my school. They'd forgo buying food for the trip, opting to fill their wagon with as much ammo as possible instead. They would take every opportunity to go hunting and shoot everything that moved, even if they could only take a small fraction of the meat back to the wagon. By the time they were done passing through a region it would be utterly devoid of animal life. I guess the settlers they controlled were carnivores or something, because they'd make the entire trip surviving off of nothing but meat.

 

[emeraldrafael]

To be fair... you have to kill alot of cows to get the leather, and pigs to get ham, and they and soemtimes they just dont give you anyhting.

EDIT: watched the vid, i wonder which kid was the jerk that cut down all the trees before anyone else could.

 

[Phlakes]

Now history teachers will be using Civilization to teach kids general history, and Call of Duty to teach kids World War II

The thing is, with some editing, those ideas could work. In a few of my history classes in high school we watched movies like Saving Private Ryan to see what those things were like instead of reading about them, but the best way would be to experience them. The D-Day mission in CoD 2 would be perfect if the twitchy shooter elements were taken out and it was more of an interactive experience than a game.

 

[Apollo45]

This is awesome.

Definitely a creative way to teach kids cooperation and teamwork.

 

[Smeagol150]

Can I take this as an online course?

 

[JayDig]

That one kid who yells, "Obsidian!"... Yah, he's awesome.

 

[Dfskelleton]

My friend and I play Minecraft in computer class. I'm not sure if we're supposed to, but we do it anyways
Good memories return to me of the day the teacher caught me playing Doom while in computer class:

"[insert my name here], what are you playing?"
"Doom."
"Are you shooting people?"
"No, of course not! I'm shooting zombies."
[awkward silence, broken by my friends laughing]
"I don't really think this game is school appropriate."
"Okay."
[turns off Doom like a boss]

 

[Mosesj]

I think this is a awesome idea, as minecraft can be educational and fun

 

[Jamous]

I can imagine this helps a lot of the students get the picture; I know it would certainly help me. Also; Yay, Minecraft. Just built a rather large minecart track around my server. Damn it's going to be fun when I can actually -ride- the damn thing. :L

 

[Singularly Datarific]

you...
LUCKY...
KIDS!!!
Anyways, that's pretty dang awesome!
Props to that school!

 

[Space Jawa]

I love how the kids went about trying to kill all the animals and got distracted the moment they saw them on the screen.

And they say video games make people violent. Silly, kids are violent all on their own!

 

[Atheist.]

I'd totally get a bucket of lava and burn everything down just to troll the class. Ah that would be so much fun.

I wish we had things like this when I was in school.