This class gives students the opportunity to express their building and design skills in Minecraft! Students will work either in a group or by themselves to create a build according to the theme for the week. Players of any skill level are encouraged to join and inquire about any topics they may be unfamiliar with. Our teachers are skilled in Minecraft and will answer any questions and help students turn their ideas into realities. Each week, we will introduce a new theme. Students may be designing a water park, building cities in the Nether, building a space station, or more! Advanced skills or knowledge of Minecraft are not required. Students are encouraged to have fun with others in an interactive and supportive group setting. For this class, only Minecraft Java Edition (not the Bedrock edition) for PC or Mac is supported. It is not compatible with iPads, tablets, phones, Chromebook, or game consoles. Students must purchase the Java Edition of Minecraft for their personal computers; tablets, Chromebook or consoles will not suffice. Students in this course will: - Express their creativity and ideas in Minecraft - Collaborate with other students to build complexes and villages - Design and plan individual buildings - Develop negotiating skills in a group setting and engage in teamwork - Apply basic engineering knowledge to rise to a specific problem or challenge - Give instructions to others and accept feedback from teachers and peers alike - Be able to ask for help or guidance with their builds The teacher will wait up to 15 minutes for students to arrive. If students do not show up within that time and haven’t provided advance notice, the session will not be rescheduled.
These are the learning goals and activities over the classes:
00:00 - 00:10 Introduce each other and theme
00:10 - 0:55 Building and question time
00:55 - 01:00 Present their builds to other students
Students will need to download Minecraft Java Edition with their own account. They will also need a microphone and a camera for video communication on Zoom. We use PDL Minecraft server and we will send the server address before the class starts.
The founder of Playful Digital Learning, Yoonhee Lee, has done extensive research on game-based literacy learning. She has a variety of teaching experience in K-12 and adult contexts in Korea and the US. She is currently teaching pre-service teachers in Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at ASU.
Learning coach, Ashtyn Dial, graduated from Arizona State University with a Master's in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She has worked with children for several years and has taught many subjects including game development, language, writing, music, and more. She is currently working as a Teacher Assistant.
Learning coach, Shardul Shetye, is majoring in psychology at Arizona State University. He has been playing video games, including Minecraft, for the past ten years, and has become an expert at many Minecraft concepts. He hopes to pass on some of his useful knowledge to bright young scholars.
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The teacher was great! We experienced technical difficulties on our end...