Minecraft for Parents

18+ yrs old

Technology

Parents will understand Minecraft Education Edition is more than just an addictive game for kids, but a pedagogical tool with great educational power.

Submitted By: Mario Caicedo Langer

June 20, 2018

Lesson Plan
My Notes

Print Lesson Rework Lesson

Skills

Collaboration
Critical Thinking
Project Based Learning

External References

Problem Based Learning Course

How to use Minecraft Education Edition as a tool to use in a Problem-Based Learning environment.

My Minecraft Journey, Lesson 6: Classroom Management

How to build a positive learning community through digital citizenship and how to set an academical purpose to your lessons.

Learning Objectives

Identify all the learning opportunities Minecraft Education Edition offers in all curricular and extracurricular subjects.
Explore the basic game mechanics of Minecraft: environment, controls, building blocks, characters and popular mobs.
Analyze how Minecraft Education can be used to teach Digital Citizenship, teamwork, problem-solving, creativity and other 21st Century Skills.
Understand Minecraft is a powerful and pedagogical tool for kids; and besides, how it is involved in their virtual an real interactions with other kids.
Recognize when Minecraft is being used in a healthy way, and when children need more attention to avoid addictive patterns.

Guiding Ideas

When we offer lessons of Minecraft in our STEM center in Azerbaijan, kids are enthusiastic about this course. However, there is resistance from their parents, who don't understand the educational value of Minecraft, believe it's just another childish video game and prefer to register them in another kind of after school activities where practical real-life applications are more evident. This lesson tries to answer the following questions, usually asked by the same parents :

What is Minecraft?
Why Minecraft is different from other video games and popular trends for kids?
What are the differences and benefits of Minecraft Education Edition compared with the home/pocket editions? (parents usually ask this question in a different way: "Why do I have to pay money to play a video game in your STEM center, when my son can play it at home for free?)
What will kids learn with Minecraft Education Edition?
What are the benefits of Minecraft Education compared with other traditional teaching ways?
How is a typical Minecraft Education Edition lesson?
How can parents be involved to check if their kids are playing Minecraft in a healthy way, and how to check for possible addictive behaviors?

Student Activities

This workshop is scheduled for three hours of duration. Lesson will be in Azeri, Russian or English (according to the language sector coming to the classroom). Teacher will need to be proficient in the three languages, considering Minecraft Education Edition is in English, but parents maybe only speak one or two languages from the previous list :

Teacher may create a presentation in Power Point or Sway to explain parents about Minecraft, its benefits, game mechanics and applications in the classroom, explaining how Minecraft is useful to teach from Digital Citizenship to Chemistry and Humanities, and how it can be used in a Problem-Based Learning methodology (30 min. - 1 hour). Teacher may use Minecraft videos from the Microsoft Education site, and proffesional success cases like Molcraft, the project created by students in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Hull, supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry (Chemical Engineering is probably the most popular career path in Azerbaijan, because their oil industry and tradition).
Parents may access the Tutorial World, and follow Teacher's guidance to explore the virtual world of Minecraft (1.5 hours)
Teacher and parents may analyze the experience, discuss their conclusions and formulate questions (last 30 min.)

Performance Expectations

Parents should understand what Minecraft is, what are the benefits and why Minecraft Education Edition is not only a legit pedagogical tool, but a powerful one with countless applications in all areas of knowledge and not limited only to children, but to all ages.
Parents should understand Minecraft gives to the kids the opportunity to create their own world with their own rules, where they are free of creating everything without the limitations of the real world. This motivates their imagination and creativity.
Parents should learn the basic game mechanics of Minecraft. That will give them the opportunity to learn more about their children's hobbies and can open new communication spaces between parents and their kids.
Parents should understand it's natural for kids to be fond of video games, but at the same time, parents must control if the fanaticism starts affecting other dimensions in their life (low performance in school and other activities, issues in family and social relationships, obsessive behaviors, cyber-bullying)