The immensely popular open-world game "Minecraft" was purchased by Microsoft for US$ 2.5 billion. Gamification of learning is an educational revolution that was invested heavily in.
It is not hard to imagine how the logic-based mechanics of the construction system of the game could be used to teach skills in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Whether there is room to cover more nuanced, theoretical matters in other disciplines, such as history or humanities, remains something of an open question.
If it is taught the right way, there is an argument thatMinecraft has a place in any kind of classroom.
Described as anallegorical build, the pair's teaching method is underpinned by principles of engaging with the failures inherent in the game and its programming, and reflection on how to relate what is already known about the real world to the game.
It means treating the challenges within the game's survival aspects and its unique mix of risks and not dilemmas as obstacles students need to overcome in order to learn, but as features that communicate concepts about our own history and culture.
The method was based on a class taught by Wershler. Part of that course relied on using the game.
The ability to produce steel and something resembling a power grid were added to the game in this course. The game can show concepts related to industrialization's impacts on the environment.
The course is not a video game studies course or a gamified version of a course on modernity, says Wershler.
The other thing sits in an uncomfortable middle and brushes up against both. The learning comes from trying to think about both things at the same time.
Over the past decade, the survival game of resource management has evolved into a complex digital realm where just about anything can be constructed, including virtual computers that can run their own version of the game.
Its trademark blocky graphics have remained relatively unchanged, as both a recognizable part of its brand and as a core feature of the Minecraft experience.
The mix of economic interface, flexibility, and complexity makes the program capable of teaching a variety of skills in an engaging way, so much so that Microsoft developed an educational version of the program targeting teachers and students.
The pros to learning this way are obvious, especially as classrooms flip the learning process to make better use of non-contact time, a practice that became vital during lockdowns.
Whether it is for the incentives and challenges that come with games or simply as an interactive model, using games to teach fundamental concepts is nothing new.
For as long as computers have been in the classroom, computer games have appeared in lessons.
Gamification of teaching resources is overhyped and underappreciated, depending on who you ask.
Online educational resources, whether in the form of games or more traditional text and video, have a renewed importance in our post-pandemic educational landscape.
One of the most important lessons in Wershler and Simon's work is to ignore the fact that programs likeMinecraft are games and instead use them as a teaching tool, one among a set of tools a skilled teacher can use to achieve a learning.
It was important that the game remained a game and that the students were working on their projects, because there were horrible things coming out of the wilderness to kill them.
This makes them think about the fact that they are doing something that requires effort and that there is a chance of failure.
This research was published in a journal.
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