Play This, Learn That

This assignment is going to keep track of my reflections as I continue to read Play This, Learn That by Dr. Chris Haskell. Each chapter, I will add my thinking on to the original post.

Introduction:

The use of commercial gaming in the classroom could foster creativity, upper level thinking, and problem solving capabilities. Students progress through challenges that have them encounter a problem, think about possible outcomes, and receive a consequence, either positive or negative, from that decision. Commercial gaming could expose students to the academic world outside the traditional subjects and skills taught within the walls of a classroom.

Chapter 1 - Minecraft:

If my administrator were to ask me what I believe to be some redeeming qualities to Minecraft, I would have to say the engagement factor. From overhearing student conversations about video games, Minecraft comes a lot. There are some academically inclined students in my class who even write about Minecraft when they are aloud to choose their topic. This shows me that there is already an interest in the game. It would be easy to engage students who are already familiar with the inner workings of the game. The only part that would need to be introduced is the academic portion and tasks needed to be completed.

Another redeeming quality is the ease in which it could be used for academics. Minecraft, especially Minecraft EDU, was built to incorporate into the classroom. Minecraft EDU allows teachers to manage student dashboards and create student lessons and objectives. The students would be responsible for making the choices that could lead them to reaching the objectives. Students would need to problem solve and work with one another both inside and outside of the virtual environment to see that their task is complete.

As far as my colleagues are concerned, they would need to know how Minecraft educators like Glen Irvin and Jim Pike created and facilitated the lessons. My team would be more concerned about HOW to create a lesson and implement those lessons in class. They would want to see the lessons and time frames in action so that they could visualize how their classrooms would look and run during their own lessons.