Gaming to Teach a Love of Learning

(Originally posted March 16, 2015 on Greenwood 50's Technology Leaders and Coaches in Action! blog at: http://kidblog.org/stls/823673c8-64ee-4e47-81b0-aca3e1d5b807/gaming-to-teach-a-love-of-learning/ )
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Some days, I literally stand back and let my students teach me...

particularly when it comes to using our new MinecraftEDU server.  I recently won the server by entering a class photo into an Instagram contest hosted by Teachability (Pearson Education.)  I knew how much my students loved the popular game, and I couldn't keep the Minecraft books on the shelves during our fall Scholastic Book Fair!  So, I entered the contest with the hope that if things went in our favor, I could use the software to work towards my goal of helping teachers integrate technology in the classroom by promoting and providing ideas, instruction, and lessons that incorporate meaningful and engaging instructional technology applications.

What I've learned along the way is that educational gaming is a perfect way to do all those things.

By using gaming technologies we meet students where they live.  They are digital natives.  They don't know a world that does not include mobile computing devices, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and home computing and gaming systems.  I do remember such a world.  And while I am not a gamer, I have a strong desire to teach my students to love learning and to be life-long learners.

What better way to do that than by using the technologies they love to teach them the skills - both social and academic - and the curricular content they need?

At our school, we intend to use the MinecraftEDU server and classroom licenses as part of a STEMs (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Lab. The lab will mostly serve upper elementary students who are interested in the STEMs magnet program in middle school.  However, all students will be able to take advantage of and benefit from the lab, with the goal of growing their skills and knowledge through hands-on, inquiry and project-based learning.

Classroom teachers will design lessons in MinecraftEDU that teach standards-based curriculum in science and mathematics while incorporating engineering technologies and the social concepts of cooperative and collaborative learning that are uniquely appealing through gaming technologies.

MinecraftEDU contains most all the elements students love about the commercial version of the game, minus the zombies - to which I always get an, "awww, no zombies?" response when explaining the educational version of the gaming software.

Zombies or not.  Gamer or not.  As a teacher I will gladly take the extra steps I need to in order to learn the applications my students love and are drawn to so that in the end, I can help to teach them to love the learning process in a new way.  I, and the classroom teachers who learn to incorporate this technology, will meet them where they live.

Just because I am not as interested in (or nearly as good at) gaming technologies doesn't mean I can't or shouldn't learn more about them in order to be able to design creative lessons that will engage my students on a deeper and more meaningful academic and personal level. And luckily for me, when it comes to gaming of any kind, I have the best teachers I could ever ask for in my very own students.

Teaching is a reciprocal relationship, after all - a give and take of the best variety.  I try my best to impart the knowledge I have and to inspire them to learn each day and in turn, I learn from each of them every day...and I hope they never ends.

For more information about the use of MinecraftEDU in the classroom, watch this short video: