When we started researching Minecraft in the language classroom, we didn’t know what would come out of it. I was terrified of bringing a game in the classroom in a way that wouldn’t be interesting for the students or that would create chaos. I was also curious to see if it was possible to play in French and build knowledge in a targeted language since it is an english game. As you can see from my first blog post, it was a delightful surprise to see how accessible and fun the game was.

Before even thinking about Minecraft

For Lauren and I, it was clear that we wanted to create a different language class: we both strive for engagement, authentic tasks and a positive community. We believe that a language classroom should be fun, interactive, loud, a space where you can be creative and make mistake, and a safe community. So, it was fundamental for us to implement technology that would enhance those components, not prevent them. Surprisingly for us, Minecraft was perfect for this! A lot of studies suggested that we have a positive classroom before playing. We also read that the engagement in the classroom was increased by the game! It was a perfect match!

The pros and cons

According to the research,

The pros are:

  • Engagement and motivation
  • Community
  • Agency and autonomy
  • Creativity
  • Leadership
  • Self-efficacy
  • Differentiation
  • Relevance

The cons are:

  • Motion sickness
  • Different levels of knowledge
  • Pre-made lesson are less interesting
  • Distraction

As you can see, there are a lot of pros against the cons. A lot of the negative points of implementing Minecraft in the classroom are solvable problems and come down to our ability as a teacher to manage our classroom and create a support network in it.

Next step

For the rest of our inquiry, we want to be able to imagine what a lesson or a unit with Minecraft would look like. I want to look at the BC Curriculum and see if I can find great ways to show learning through the game. I think it could also be useful for the teachers in our class to see what is possible with the game. Sometimes we hear about a technology, but we don’t know how to apply it or use it in a concrete way. We heard a lot about pre-made lesson plan and how they bore students, so I want to try to imagine using Minecraft in a different way. Even though it seems like less work to use a lesson already made, I believe that the extra effort of creating a world could be done by the students. So, let’s see where it leads us!

Sources

Gallagher, Colin et al. Minecraft in the Classroom: Ideas, Inspiration, and Student Projects for Teachers. 

Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA, 2015; 2014.

Irvin, Glen, et al. “How The Minecraft Classroom Can Transform Your World Language 

Classroom.” Technology Solutions That Drive Education, 5 June 2019, https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2017/11/minecraft-can-transform-your-world-language-classroom.

“Minecraft: Education Edition- Collaboration.” Youtube, YouTube, 8 June 2016, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=OJzriaJvvLw.

“My Minecraft Journey Lesson One: Why Minecraft: Education Edition?” My Minecraft Journey Lesson One: Why Minecraft: 

Education Edition? – Microsoft in Education, https://education.microsoft.com/courses-and-resources/courses/my-minecraft-journey-lesson-one.

Willingham, Emily. “Minecraft Is Shaping A Generation, And That Is A Good Thing.” Forbes, 

Forbes Magazine, 27 Apr. 2014, https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2014/04/26/minecraft-is-shaping-a-generation/#27b6854d66b6.