Minecraft in the classroom

[Hulababy]

We are looking at getting the Minecraft Pocket Edition app for our school iPads.

However, in addition to just using it as part of the children's free choice/iPad games club time I want to explore ideas of how to use Minecraft in the classroom.

I have started some online research and putting together some ideas.

However I did wonder if anyone here uses Minecraft in their classrooms, or their children use Minecraft at school. And if so, could you share ideas of how you/they use it?

We are an infant school - so EYFS to Year 2 - though I am initially invisaging this being more a year 2 thing.

TIA

I haven't but did notice a course on the computing at schools website at our local Uni on classroom minecraft.

DD had a project from school to design a Library (year 6) they could use any medium they liked to present to the class. The school supply an iPad to every child so she choose to build her library in Minecraft.

Adventures in Minecraft is a good book with projects to work on(there is a Raspberry Pi version too).

Have to say the vast maj of 7 year olds probably spend waaaay too much time on Minecraft as it is.I personally wouldn't be impressed if my dc were on it in class too,it's very addictive and won't be teaching many much as they'll be doing it to death at home.Re free choice wouldn't something like Mathletics be more beneficial? Haven't they got Scratch and Raspberry Pis?

I think Minecraft is fine for home but unless you were using it in a design way, I would be pretty annoyed if you used it for anything in class time. My DS uses it at home (a lot) and I think it is good for kids who like maths and drawing but not entirely sure how else it could be used other than as for fun.

I can give you some contacts Hula (unless I already have elsewhere?)

We already use scratch and scratch jr. We also have a range of apps linked to maths and English, and other curriculum topics, plus some generic apps we use as tools cross curricular.

Our children have very little free choice ipad time - maybe the odd half hour once a term or so. Their ipad time is normally restricted to specific lessons and linked to their topic or learning at the time.
The iPad club do have free choice but that's half an hour a week, for half a term at a time and then another set of children are selected.

So that aspect isn't really an issue for us.

What we are looking at is using Minecraft as a specific learning tool, as an additional tool and as an additional 'way in' for some of our children.

I know there are many benefits to used minecraft and have done a fair bit of research this evening as to how it can be used in English and maths. The children wouldn't be using it freely to do what they want; their tasks will be restricted and limited to the learning objectives and closely supervised.

I just wondered if people had any real like examples of how it's been used within schools specifically to enhance teaching and learning.

I've also found a useful website aimed at using minecraft as a learning tool for children with autism which will be good.

Verbena - just from tonight I've seen some good examples of how it's used well in schools as a learning vessel. Some good links for maths and English as well as d&t, geography, and other topic areas.

Plippy - contacts would be great

Minecraft is an amazing tool taht can be used for pretty much anything. I've seen it used brilliant for history, langauges, science, maths.

Have you come across Minecraft Edu, Minecraft teachers and the minecraft teacher yet?

Are you on twitter?

No no and just no. The classroom is no place for computer games!

Thanks Plippy.
This weekend is set aside for me to do some additional research and to start putting together some ideas for various subject areas.

Sorry for poor English, typing one handed

Oliveobsessed - I do disagree with that tbh. But then I do teach Children to write their own code and to develop their own computer games.

And we already use other computer games within the curriculum, as well as several non computer based games too.

Plippy - yes I have found that site this evening and yes I'm On Twitter

pmed you Hula

bit of an aside, but 'we' are struggling with comprehension of problem questions. When I changed the children going on school trips and buying improbable numbers of boxes of pencils/packets of crisps/bus tickets etc for Minecraft characters and objects, we seemed to grasp it much better. This is at home, not in classroom setting.

Thanks Plippy. I'll look out for it - need to go my laptop as this phones battery is about to die

I agree. The 'way in' is an important element often. The last 'hour of code' used frozen as a theme to go along side last year's angry birds. Really engaged our children and had many who really developed their coding through this introduction.

Are you crazy - do you really want to encourage an addictive computer game? Why not give out lots of soft drinks laden with sugar and caffeine while you are at it? I wish I had never put the thing on the iPad.

Take a look at Minecraft Homeschool, it gives excellent ideas of how Minecraft can be used in an incredibly educational way. My son is starting a Redstone course which is history and engineering based with loads of research, design and build. Fantastic!

Sorry wasn't impressed with that maths clip. Poor quality,hard to see and if it was any other graphic would be passed off as poor quality.What's brilliant about it?

One of the main reasons I'm not keen on IPads in classroom is using them being used for the sake of it.This is a case in point.