Minecraft at Cotati-Rohnert Park’s Technology Middle School
Author: Rick Phelan
Published: 02.04.14
Stop by Technology Middle School at lunch time on a Tuesday or Thursday and you might wonder what’s happening in Room D1. Students are gathered around computer workstations, excitedly engaged as they work in groups or individually to carry out activities with MinecraftEdu. Teacher Dan Exelby says, “Minecraft is the single most engaging activity I’ve ever seen used with middle school students.”
According to the Minecraft website, “Minecraft is a game about breaking and placing blocks. At first, people built structures to protect against nocturnal monsters, but as the game grew, players worked together to create wonderful, imaginative things.”
Dan Exelby believes this is because Minecraft is accessible at many different levels, offering young people autonomy and control. He advocates using Minecraft for four reasons:
- It fosters critical thinking, problem solving, and design thinking
- Students are required to manage resources
- There are many Common Core State Standards connections
- It appeals to both creative and competitive personalities
Resources from MinecraftEdu.com offer more information about this amazing activity and its educational opportunities. Here is a quote from the website:
Minecraft is designed from the ground up to be open-ended and modifiable, allowing it to be tailored for YOUR curriculum. Minecraft can support your goals whether you are teaching Common Core Standards or allowing your students an opportunity for creative expression, or anything in between. The game is being used to teach more than just computer skills. It easily lends itself to science, technology, engineering and math explorations (STEM). But beyond that, language teachers are strengthening communication skills, civics teachers are exploring how societies function, and history teachers are having their students recreate ancient civilizations. It is not an exaggeration to say that the only limit is imagination!”
Exelby says that it’s easy to get started with Minecraft. “A Minecraft server can run on Windows, Mac, or Linux based computers,” he explains. “A minimal school investment of less than $400 for the MinecraftEdu server license that’s easy to install can get a school going in no time.” A great YouTube tutorial offering an initial overview of the MinecraftEdu server is offered here:
Exelby’s enthusiasm and interest in Minecraft is shared by other upper elementary and middle school teachers around the world as you can see in this Teachers for Tomorrow post.
Learn More
For a wealth of information about Minecraft in education and how to get it started at your school, visit the Minecraft Edu Wiki. Topics include:
Getting Started
For Teachers
Blog: Technology for Learners
