Emerging Technology ProjectBy: Ashley Cross
“Yes, they are fun, but [games] also allow players a chance to take on new roles and experience worlds in which they learn and problem solve. [The best] games offer something new to students -- entire worlds in which learners are central, important participants - worlds where what they know is directly related to what they are able to do and, ultimately, who they become”-Barab et al, 2009
Game-Based Learning
CONSTRUCTIONISM: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Constructionism shares constructivism’s connotation of learning as ‘building knowledge structures’ It then adds the idea that this happens especially felicitously in a context where the learner is engaged in constructing a public entity.-Seymour Papert, Mindstorms
HISTORY OF MINECRAFT
• First created in 2009 by Markus “Notch” Persson • Published by the Swedish company Mojang• Purchased by Microsoft for $2.5 billion on
November 6, 2014• Over 54 million copies sold across platforms
to date
GAMEPLAY
• Survival mode• Creative mode• Adventure mode- experience user-crafted
custom maps• Spectator mode
REDSTONE: CIRCUITRY IN MINECRAFT
Equivalent to electricity in Minecraft
Printer inside Minecraft
Working ComputerThis one can load 16 lines of code into "RAM" (memory),
perform division and display hexadecimal notation.
EXAMPLES OF USER-CREATED WORLDS
MINECRAFT EDU
• We are an independent game development company started by three teachers and programmers from the United States and Finland. Our mission is to expand game-based learning into classrooms worldwide. • Online community with resources and
support for educators
Computational Thinking + Minecraft
= Programming Mods
MOD DESIGN VIDEO
3D PRINTING CREATIONS FROM MINECRAFT
Questions?