The SDG Warriors
12 Dec 2022
Back in 2018, as an MIE Expert, I heard about the National Minecraft Championship. I was skeptical of participating as I never used Minecraft in my science classes before & getting selected from all-over India was next to impossible - but then, there was nothing to lose, so I jumped in. As I poured over the list of volunteers, I noticed a trend - most played the game in survival mode, not creative mode, and there was not a single girl. I then personally went to each & every section asking specifically for girls who play Minecraft, still no one. An all-boys team was formed.
One day, I requested the boys to stay back during PT (gym) class to brainstorm ideas on the project. We would have the class to ourselves barring 1 student with a fracture. As the team deliberated over possible solutions, we never noticed when the students jumped into the conversation. The science topper had her concepts in place & her communication was excellent - she would be an asset to the team but there was a problem - she did not play the game. Two days later she shared a video of an idea she’d built – it wasn't much to look at, but the team agreed that the idea was brilliant. For the next few weeks - the team put in everything they had.
We were super excited when we learned that we were one of the TOP five selected teams for the National Finals in Delhi! Expecting a happy ending? We lost in the finals...but the learning was immense - though the research & the execution was seamless, we failed at the presentation - the lack of cooperation was stark. Though part of the team, her role was relegated to research & content creation only with the communication led by the boys. Back home, the very next day, I got a note seeking permission to access the computer lab in recess for a month, to improve the project.
I obliged. As I glanced into the computer lab a few days later I noticed a group of girls glancing at their tutor's screen - the first girl from school to be selected for Minecraft was teaching Minecraft to her friends & they were building a solution to Climate Change & thus, the idea of SDG Warriors 2.0 was born - an all-girls team of STEMinists working to find solutions to the most pressing global problems.
If the girls can do it, what is stopping me? I began my learning journey on the Minecraft Education portal, it has everything - short explanation videos, lesson plans, even professional development on demand. I started embedding the lessons into my science classes with optional homework assignments in Minecraft - surprisingly more than 90% of the class, including the girls, voluntarily sent me their walkthrough videos. Encouraged by the response, with the help of my students, I created over a dozen lesson plans to meet the unique needs of my students.
In 2019, the SDG Warriors participated in the National Build Championship again - 2 of the best projects were selected to represent the school. This included the very first all-girls Minecraft team - not only were they good in their subject knowledge, research & communication, but this time they were equally adept in Minecraft creative mode. The girls went on to win the 2nd position in the Nationals, getting the opportunity to present their idea to Mr. Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India & Mr. R.P Singh, Joint Secretary, Central Board of Secondary Education.
In the thick of the pandemic, undeterred by remote learning, the students collaborated online, to present their solution to future pandemic lockdowns, the girls won again!
Keeping up the momentum, they participated in a global coding project - their work received much appreciation. Not resting on past laurels, as part of a National Geographic collaboration, we worked with an Explorer specializing in the Google Forest "Mt. Mabo" & recreated animal folktales from the forest & our own country - The Panchatantra in Minecraft (lesson plan coming soon!)
“The learning experience is beyond anything she could have picked up in class, the children actually love it & my daughter has created it," commented a proud parent as he watched little ones delightfully explore the folktale world created by the SDG Warriors.
Since then, we have presented in global conferences & started our very own podcast – The SDG Warriors Podcast. We are part of the first ever cohort of Official Minecraft Student Ambassadors & are presenting our journey at ISTE Live 22. Follow the SDG Warriors’ Journey on Twitter @SDGwarriors, and you’ll see the girls are on a spree!
So, what is the role of Minecraft here? For my students, it wasn't just rote learning or gaming for entertainment, the students applied the concepts they learned in class to solve problems in the Minecraft world - this developed their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Minecraft is like LEGO, only on the computer - recreating/redesigning the real world in Minecraft nurtured their creativity. When they faced challenges - they worked together to solve the problem, cooperation instead of competition helped develop team spirit.
The non-threatening environment of the game allowed students to learn from their mistakes till they mastered a skill. Minecraft is a powerful tool that YOU can use as a teacher to engage students to achieve the learning outcomes that YOU set. Use YOUR strength in the subject & integrate Minecraft to build student engagement & understanding - you don't need to be a computer science teacher, but you DO have to have hands-on experience. So, go ahead & empower your all-girls team on their path to success! Check out 2 lesson plans: BEES - SCIENCE@MINECRAFT and AREA & VOLUME - MATH@MINECRAFT.
