Developing spatial reasoning in relation to geometric shapes.
Identification, sorting and classification of objects by common patterns or attributes.
Understanding of basic human needs of food, clothing, and shelter and how these needs are met.
Wat?
That's stuff that the average human has a pretty good grasp of by age 2, not by grade 2... jeez. What ever happened to math, history, science, and English?
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416 stone 296 stone slab (150 blocks) 149 stone stairs (228 blocks)
i dontthink you thought into this enough.
it teaches the kids teamwork and creativity, etc. i think minecraft is great for kids to have at school so they can focus alot easier on their teamwork and creativity by playing a fun game all the kids can have fun at.
Maby so its a better way to know how to work computers, play games that are educational or no, to support this game due to how popular it is, or maby to computerize the schools and have teachers lose there jobs but the techno teachers who can help out... idk, i actualy think its a bad idea kinda.
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<~~~ This dragon might be the new president... erm... maby vice president...? http://dragcave.net/user/cian9 <~~ Rest of my dragons if u wana see them
Obviously just giving your class a game and letting them play isn't likely to be a particularly effective teaching tool by itself, although they WILL be gaining understanding of important concepts if they're playing something like Minecraft. But don't overlook the TEACHING part of the task. You need to plan lessons and assign projects that take advantage of the teaching tools you have available to you, one of which could well be Minecraft. Sure, you could use redstone to demonstrate AND, NOT, and OR circuits. Big deal. If that's all you're doing, you're right, it's just a gimmick. But learning AND, NOT and OR by themselves is of little value in itself anyway. What students need to understand is how these simple functions work and how they relate to each other and logic in general. Assign a project in Minecraft like, for example, wiring a series of levers to give hotel guests control over access to their rooms but subject to a master switch at the front desk, and those kids will surprise you with their resourcefulness and creativity, while at the same time absorbing a much more useful practical understanding of logic. Support this with appropriate expository lectures and written materials, and there you go.
But that's just it. That's a single instance, and in the 10 seconds it took for me to read it and hit reply, I came up with a better one (Use electronics to solder and wire transistors, buttons and lights or servers together for the same end).
Not only is this a physical entity, it introduces safety, OHS, electronics, engineering, voltage, current, circuits. Hell, combine it with art to make the hotel diorama and link the servos to the doors.
Now the hour long minecraft project is a cross curricular activity that would be far more engaging to a wider range of students. Contrary to popular belief, there are a HEAP of teenagers that wouldn't play this game if you paid them.
I'm not denying it's potential, I'm saying it's so limited as to be wasteful. The oppurtunity cost is too high.
But that's just it. That's a single instance, and in the 10 seconds it took for me to read it and hit reply, I came up with a better one (Use electronics to solder and wire transistors, buttons and lights or servers together for the same end).
Not only is this a physical entity, it introduces safety, OHS, electronics, engineering, voltage, current, circuits. Hell, combine it with art to make the hotel diorama and link the servos to the doors.
Now the hour long minecraft project is a cross curricular activity that would be far more engaging to a wider range of students. Contrary to popular belief, there are a HEAP of teenagers that wouldn't play this game if you paid them.
I'm not denying it's potential, I'm saying it's so limited as to be wasteful. The oppurtunity cost is too high.
Then perhaps I misread you when you said it had "absolutely no tangible benefit".
I wouldn't say it's a magic teaching solution for everything. And the example I gave, about wiring doors, would not have been my first choice, but I selected it to refute what I saw as a very shallow approach to teaching logic gates in a vacuum. Minecraft is just one way to give practical context to the role of logic gates; actually soldering transistors is another. In fact, as I alluded to in my post, I have been finding Minecraft much more useful in exploring principles of economics and geography. The point, however, is not that Minecraft is the best tool for any particular curriculum object, but that it is one of many potentially useful tools, and its potential is not nearly so limited as you say.
What's important, I think, is to remember that students are not a homogeneous group, and a tool that will work brilliantly for some might be completely ineffective for another. So one needs to be alert and willing to switch to a different tool as the needs and aptitudes of a student become apparent. Games like Minecraft can be very valuable, used appropriately. I don't think it's wise to rule them out, for doing so has its own opportunity cost which I think you've underestimated.
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For philosophy, law, science, religion and other topics: A Blog of Tom
Then perhaps I misread you when you said it had "absolutely no tangible benefit".
What's important, I think, is to remember that students are not a homogeneous group, and a tool that will work brilliantly for some might be completely ineffective for another. So one needs to be alert and willing to switch to a different tool as the needs and aptitudes of a student become apparent. Games like Minecraft can be very valuable, used appropriately. I don't think it's wise to rule them out, for doing so has its own opportunity cost which I think you've underestimated.
"Tangible" was probably the wrong word. In much the same way as giving any child a game involving hand grenades will no doubt give them a very practical exposé in the knowledge of physics, Minecraft is capable of conveying knowledge in the manner you spoke of. That's the impression I was trying to get at.
I am not denying for a moment that students are diverse enough that there won't be an individual for whom lessons delivered via Minecraft would not be the holy grail. I could probably name 4 people in my school who would love for everything to be delivered that way. 3 of these 4, it makes no difference how the material is delivered, and the last kid is in the "Learning Support" class.
My point is that if I were to deliver ANY relevant content knowledge via the game, my breakdown of students would be:
25% outright refusing to "Play that crap with the **** block graphics"
60% just playing the game and refusing direction
15% doing a rush-job of whatever task/questions they are asked, then just playing the game
<1% who diligently do what is requested in the game to an acceptable level
It's just not worth it. I can get so much better results, with so much better engagement. And this is assuming that every kid is familiar enough with the game to jump straight into whatever you're discussing (which about half of them definitely won't be, at best)
I've used games to convey knowledge before. When they were appropriate and beneficial. Lightbot 1.0 and 2.0 are AWESOME flash games for discussing in Software Design, from flowcharts, test cases, modelling, interface design, recursion, conditionals, algorithms and program flow. PowderToy in stage 5, on the Simulation and Modelling unit's. DrSBAITSO in Artificial intelligence.
Minecraft is NOT a learning tool, no matter what wrapper you put it in.
as far as I know, second graders dont have that strict a eduactional program anyway. seems legitly useful at that point.
if it where highschoolers or such, fine waste of time, but frankly gives the tikes something to look foward to, with some semblance of education.
Their schools have too much money on their hands...
Look at the costs for books (60 dollars or more where i live) then look at the 25$ for MinecraftEdu.
With this either it's a teacher wanting to stay with crappy lectures instead of using something people actually want to play. You say kids won't play it with the graphics? The alternative is listening to a teacher drone on about it instead of playing a video game to teach it.
Anyways, I think that a lot of people don't think it'll work because they couldn't get it in their school.
as far as I know, second graders dont have that strict a eduactional program anyway. seems legitly useful at that point.
if it where highschoolers or such, fine waste of time, but frankly gives the tikes something to look foward to, with some semblance of education.
If anything, a second graders curriculum should be MORE strict. Building upon a solid foundation and all that.
Sure, use MC as a free time activity, but not as part of a lesson.
Look at the costs for books (60 dollars or more where i live) then look at the 25$ for MinecraftEdu.
With this either it's a teacher wanting to stay with crappy lectures instead of using something people actually want to play. You say kids won't play it with the graphics? The alternative is listening to a teacher drone on about it instead of playing a video game to teach it.
Anyways, I think that a lot of people don't think it'll work because they couldn't get it in their school.
I've already discussed this point. One $50 book = 12 months of content. One $25 copy of this is maybe, MAYBE a week.
If you haven't watched the above extra credits episode, watch it. It's good stuff.
Think back how often you have tried to build something and tought "how much cobblestone would I need for that?" and grabbed a calculator?
on the flipside
how often in SMP have you considered how incredibly demanding it can be to work together on a project, just from the social perspective?
these things are no more then a tought for most of us but for someone in 2nd grade it's a pretty big deal. Where I live a typical 2nd grader may know how to add and subtract maybe even learned to multiply.
They may know how to be nice to someone but do they know how to make a drawing with 4 other pupils drawing on the same piece of paper?
Using minecraft or rather a game as a teaching form is an attempt to remedy the "superfun" things that are our timewasters when we've got spare time. Making homework is really at the bottom of most people's lists in terms of fun. and that wasn't always the case since there was no computer or any simple accessable form of entertainment. Making something like minecraft wich is a fun thing into a subliminal teaching tool is a win/win situation.
I do agree it might be a bit to early to introduce this into a classroom as of yet since digital education is in it infancy (no really it's not even close to viable yet). But it shows promise so why not try something with it?
I would love to be able to incorporate Minecraft into an art class or something. Do you not realize that this could be used for architecture classes like Drafting? This could be a huge thing in classes and even college courses. Using in-game dimensions and the 3-D environment, you could create a scale of a building you are designing. Also, this is YOUR OWN world, nobody else's, you can do anything you want to. This helps kids express themselves and work on visual and creative skills. Why are you complaining about Minecraft in school? I think it is a really good idea.
Edit: I agree completely with Vechora and Tom Tzu.
Minecraft in school? Happens all the time at my school. And they don't even sign up for MinecraftEdu.
But seriously, I find this quite interesting. There have been attempts of using games not meant for education for education. I think Minecraft would be a good attempt at this... concept.
Besides, this is like for primary school. If it was aimed at higher grade levels, they would've taught the students how to manually create texture packs, make mods, or create complicated circuits using Redstone wiring.
I mean really, what would you exactly learn from playing Minecraft? Redstone logic? Basic geometry (a little too basic)? I mean, you can get to more advanced geometry with large Minecraft structures (domes, circles...) but those take more time then the duration of a normal class.
Children will learn a lot more from playing Minecraft than making 12 year olds put condoms on bananas. I support teachers using Minecraft.
Wat?
That's stuff that the average human has a pretty good grasp of by age 2, not by grade 2... jeez. What ever happened to math, history, science, and English?
416 stone
296 stone slab (150 blocks)
149 stone stairs (228 blocks)
794 total stone
1082 blackstone
174 blackstone slab (87 blocks)
52 blackstone stairs (78 blocks)
1247 total blackstone
(not counting drawbridges and portcullises)
it teaches the kids teamwork and creativity, etc. i think minecraft is great for kids to have at school so they can focus alot easier on their teamwork and creativity by playing a fun game all the kids can have fun at.
I mean really,i learned a lot
http://dragcave.net/user/cian9 <~~ Rest of my dragons if u wana see them
But that's just it. That's a single instance, and in the 10 seconds it took for me to read it and hit reply, I came up with a better one (Use electronics to solder and wire transistors, buttons and lights or servers together for the same end).
Not only is this a physical entity, it introduces safety, OHS, electronics, engineering, voltage, current, circuits. Hell, combine it with art to make the hotel diorama and link the servos to the doors.
Now the hour long minecraft project is a cross curricular activity that would be far more engaging to a wider range of students. Contrary to popular belief, there are a HEAP of teenagers that wouldn't play this game if you paid them.
I'm not denying it's potential, I'm saying it's so limited as to be wasteful. The oppurtunity cost is too high.
Then perhaps I misread you when you said it had "absolutely no tangible benefit".
I wouldn't say it's a magic teaching solution for everything. And the example I gave, about wiring doors, would not have been my first choice, but I selected it to refute what I saw as a very shallow approach to teaching logic gates in a vacuum. Minecraft is just one way to give practical context to the role of logic gates; actually soldering transistors is another. In fact, as I alluded to in my post, I have been finding Minecraft much more useful in exploring principles of economics and geography. The point, however, is not that Minecraft is the best tool for any particular curriculum object, but that it is one of many potentially useful tools, and its potential is not nearly so limited as you say.
What's important, I think, is to remember that students are not a homogeneous group, and a tool that will work brilliantly for some might be completely ineffective for another. So one needs to be alert and willing to switch to a different tool as the needs and aptitudes of a student become apparent. Games like Minecraft can be very valuable, used appropriately. I don't think it's wise to rule them out, for doing so has its own opportunity cost which I think you've underestimated.
No you didn't... Otherwise you'd have called it logic gates or Boolean logic...
"Tangible" was probably the wrong word. In much the same way as giving any child a game involving hand grenades will no doubt give them a very practical exposé in the knowledge of physics, Minecraft is capable of conveying knowledge in the manner you spoke of. That's the impression I was trying to get at.
I am not denying for a moment that students are diverse enough that there won't be an individual for whom lessons delivered via Minecraft would not be the holy grail. I could probably name 4 people in my school who would love for everything to be delivered that way. 3 of these 4, it makes no difference how the material is delivered, and the last kid is in the "Learning Support" class.
My point is that if I were to deliver ANY relevant content knowledge via the game, my breakdown of students would be:
25% outright refusing to "Play that crap with the **** block graphics"
60% just playing the game and refusing direction
15% doing a rush-job of whatever task/questions they are asked, then just playing the game
<1% who diligently do what is requested in the game to an acceptable level
It's just not worth it. I can get so much better results, with so much better engagement. And this is assuming that every kid is familiar enough with the game to jump straight into whatever you're discussing (which about half of them definitely won't be, at best)
I've used games to convey knowledge before. When they were appropriate and beneficial. Lightbot 1.0 and 2.0 are AWESOME flash games for discussing in Software Design, from flowcharts, test cases, modelling, interface design, recursion, conditionals, algorithms and program flow. PowderToy in stage 5, on the Simulation and Modelling unit's. DrSBAITSO in Artificial intelligence.
Minecraft is NOT a learning tool, no matter what wrapper you put it in.
if it where highschoolers or such, fine waste of time, but frankly gives the tikes something to look foward to, with some semblance of education.
Look at the costs for books (60 dollars or more where i live) then look at the 25$ for MinecraftEdu.
With this either it's a teacher wanting to stay with crappy lectures instead of using something people actually want to play. You say kids won't play it with the graphics? The alternative is listening to a teacher drone on about it instead of playing a video game to teach it.
Anyways, I think that a lot of people don't think it'll work because they couldn't get it in their school.
If anything, a second graders curriculum should be MORE strict. Building upon a solid foundation and all that.
Sure, use MC as a free time activity, but not as part of a lesson.
I've already discussed this point. One $50 book = 12 months of content. One $25 copy of this is maybe, MAYBE a week.
2nd grade should be fun to be sure, but how about a little more of the 3 R's?
Maybe then, I could read these forums without throwing up and the kid at McDonalds won't be paralyzed when I hand him the extra 3 cents.
If you haven't watched the above extra credits episode, watch it. It's good stuff.
Think back how often you have tried to build something and tought "how much cobblestone would I need for that?" and grabbed a calculator?
on the flipside
how often in SMP have you considered how incredibly demanding it can be to work together on a project, just from the social perspective?
these things are no more then a tought for most of us but for someone in 2nd grade it's a pretty big deal. Where I live a typical 2nd grader may know how to add and subtract maybe even learned to multiply.
They may know how to be nice to someone but do they know how to make a drawing with 4 other pupils drawing on the same piece of paper?
Using minecraft or rather a game as a teaching form is an attempt to remedy the "superfun" things that are our timewasters when we've got spare time. Making homework is really at the bottom of most people's lists in terms of fun. and that wasn't always the case since there was no computer or any simple accessable form of entertainment. Making something like minecraft wich is a fun thing into a subliminal teaching tool is a win/win situation.
I do agree it might be a bit to early to introduce this into a classroom as of yet since digital education is in it infancy (no really it's not even close to viable yet). But it shows promise so why not try something with it?
my 2 cents
While I think MinecraftEdu is a scam, I have to agree with this. Take my entire family, for example....
Edit: I agree completely with Vechora and Tom Tzu.
TMan.
But seriously, I find this quite interesting. There have been attempts of using games not meant for education for education. I think Minecraft would be a good attempt at this... concept.
Besides, this is like for primary school. If it was aimed at higher grade levels, they would've taught the students how to manually create texture packs, make mods, or create complicated circuits using Redstone wiring.
Children will learn a lot more from playing Minecraft than making 12 year olds put condoms on bananas. I support teachers using Minecraft.