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Binary Builders Make and Model is part of a series of esports Minecraft worlds that promote organized, competitive & collaborative play for learning
June 22, 2020
Make & Model Binary Builders
Make & Model Instructional Playbook
Getting Started with Minecraft Esports Technical Guide
Binary Buiders Make and Model is part of a series of esports Minecraft worlds that promote organized, competitive & collaborative play for learning a variety of cognitive and social and emotional skills. Set inside the circuitry of a gigantic computer, students’ creative skills, decision-making, communication and collaboration are developed during these team-play competitive Minecraft build battles.
A build battle is a common gaming format in Minecraft, where competitors battle it out against the clock to build a given object, person or item. The creative skills developed here are related to visualization and 3D thinking – which are highly associated with success in STEM learning and careers.
This lesson extends the opportunities for learning, by inviting students to collaborate together to enable two teams, rather than two individuals to compete. This additional layer of complexity requires students to plan and agree a strategy, to decide upon roles or jobs that each team member will undertake, to communicate effectively, to evaluate progress and take quick decisions to amend their strategy during game-play, and importantly, to reflect upon their performance as a team, as well as on their product.
This lesson can be used as a creative or practical element in any curricular area or any learning theme. We recommend two teams of 4-6 students compete per game. Other students in the class can play in-game as spectators, and have the ability to ‘vote’ for the winning team.
An additional benefit of this lesson is that students can 3D print their builds by using an in-built structure block to export designs easily.
You can refer to the Instructional Playbook for step-by-step guidance on how to play the game.
Developing skills in Collaboration
Students will create a Professional Play Journal to accompany their learning journey. They will reflect upon and practice the skills required to perform as part of a successful team.
Developing Social & Emotional skills
Students will develop Social & Emotional learning skills, as they come to identify their own strengths in a team, as well as growing in their awareness of others’ abilities and needs.
Developing skills in Self-Directed Learning
Students will contribute to developing assessment criteria as well as using it for peer assessment, growing their confidence in giving and receiving feedback, understanding connections between learning goals and assessment, and shaping perspectives towards failure and resilience.
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