This week in our class, we had the chance to learn about Minecraft. Students from Colquitz Middle School came into our class with their teacher Heidi James to teach us about Minecraft and using Minecraft for education.
I have heard so much about Minecraft just from working with children but I feel like I did not know much about it, nor did I have any idea how to play it or how it could be used for education. I actually had a really hard time learning to play it and am still a bit confused on some of the concepts. I feel like I would need to play this loads of times before I would feel comfortable incorporating this in my own classroom. I still don’t really see the point of the actual game because I don’t understand how to win or succeed in the game.
During our class, I felt like there was so much that I didn’t know that I didn’t even know what I didn’t know (if that makes sense). I felt super lost and very thrown into the whole thing. There was a language used that I didn’t understand and I feel like if I understood more about the game before actually playing, I might’ve felt more successful. I did like it was really useful to learn from students themselves though and I appreciated being given lots of time to explore the game.
I feel like at this point, I wouldn’t feel comfortable using Minecraft in my own classroom just because I still feel like there is so much that I don’t understand or know. I recognize that this could be a very important teaching tool and can help to engage students in whole new ways. As a teacher, I do want to be a part of that so I hope to further my learning in this area.