Shamelessly lifting a video from Diane's Google+ stream

[Rick M]

Warning: Long post, I'm working on some presentations, and some of what I'm working on is bleeding into what was going to be a quick post. Read at your own risk - or just read the next three sentences and watch the video :)

Diane posted a video on Google+ a couple days ago, which I just saw this morning, titled 10 Expectations, going over ten things students might expect from their school, just as their school expects something from them. 

The video is quick, and well worth watching, but I'm re-posting here because it made me think about Minecraft, both in relation to traditional classroom instruction, and even in relation to other video games. Here are the ten expectations, summarized quickly - watch the video for a fuller explanation.

Relationships - do my teachers know about me and my interests and talents?

Relevance - is the work relevant to my interest?

Time - can I learn at my own pace? Can my learning be deep, as well as broad?

Timing - do I have to learn in the same sequence as everyone else? Or can I get to the same place by following my own path?

Play - always pressure to peform, or do I have opportunities to explore, make mistakes, and learn from them?

Practice - do we learn something and immediately move on to the next skill, or can we spend time praticing what we've learned?

Choice - Do I have real choices about what, when, and how I will learn to demonstrate my abilities?

Authenticity - Is the learning and work I do regarded as significant, outside of school? Does the community recognize my work?

Challenge - Do I feel appropriately challenged? Am I addressing standards of excellence in the work I produce?

Application - all learning theoretical, or do I have opportunities to apply what I've learned in a real world setting?

The video resonated with me because I spend a lot of time trying to convince non-gamers that games have value for learning, a process I describe as trying to convince horse breeders at the turn of the 20th century they really should be paying attention to this new-fangled automobile thing.

When we say we want to use a game for teaching and learning, we're instantly diving into three definitions about which we could argue forever: Games, teaching, learning. The potential complexity of defining of the three words individually is bad enough, let alone trying to make them mesh, and then trying to make them mesh in a classroom environment. 

One of the ways I'm interested in games and learning generally, and Minecraft specifically, is when you flip the question of "How am I going to teach using a video game?" I think it's a valid question, but I'm perhaps more interested in the opposite "How are video games going to impact the way we teach?" Jim Gee territory, I know, but the second question is much more interesting to me.

Disclaimer: I'm not a teacher, so there are undoubtedly practical considerations I gloss over while considering video games and learning in a more theoretical manner. 

That said, I spend a lot of time thinking about what a teacher could do, especially at the undergraduate level, using Minecraft (and other games) as a vehicle for studying how our relationship to information has changed over the past 20 years. And, given the changes in our relationship to information, how our learning environments have changed. The 10 Expectations made me think about how each category has impact in Minecraft. 

Relationships: There's a social component, whether you're building a community with others on a multiplayer server or sharing what you've created in a single player world - shared via text, voice, image, or video. I'm of the opinion that we're seriously under-valuing the impact of relationships and community surrounding video games, definitely at the university level, possibly at earlier ages - although the participants here are leading the way in demonstrating the value of game-based clubs, as well as games based learning.

Relevance: Because Minecraft offers so many choices in the way you play the game (Survival, Creative, Hardcore) and so many choices within each of those environments, especially when you consider the huge number of mods available, every student can certainly pursue a course of action relevant to their interests.

Time, and Timing: We already see people learning at their own pace, learning deeply or learning broadly, sharing what they've learned, perusing what others have learned and shared. One interesting challenge here is what happens when a teacher sets external constraints, or an external goal. That's what Maria Cipollone, a doctoral student at Temple I'm working with, is studying; what happens to student motivation when they're asked to complete an external goal in Minecraft? Does their non-directed level of engagement lessen, or does their motivation to play persist? She'd be able to summarize it better than me, but I think that's the gist of her research.

Play, and Practice: Minecraft does this very well, naturally, even in comparison to other video games.

Choice: See relevance. I think Notch's whole point in creating Minecraft was a reaction to other 'worlds' where your choice was limited, and your interactions with the world around you was limited. Minecraft fascinates me a) because there's so many directions I can choose to go, but also b) I get to watch the choices other people are making, and to see how differently they interact with game compared to the choices I've made. That's not something you get to do even in other games in quite the same way you can in Minecraft.

Authenticity and Challenge: Two more things Minecraft does very well. I think kids are much more likely to offer their classmates honest feedback about something created in Minecraft, and maybe more expert-level feedback, than they might offer when asked for feedback about an essay, or science project, or oral report. Challenge can happen in a number of ways - goals set by the player, by the teacher, or by comparing your work to your peers, or to something you've seen online. It's so easy to compare what you build in Minecraft to what others have produced. I'm trying to imagine a way a student could perform that sort of self-assessment on an essay they've written....or if they'd even want to.

This is the kind of stuff that bounces around in my head all day, and I'm really glad Diane shared the video to help me structure my thoughts about games and learning a little bit more.

[Diane Main]

I was thinking about Minecraft, of course, as I initially watched the video too.  Ever since my graduate work in Educational Technology, I've been fascinated by the concept of motivation and engagement.

And my own early experimentation with Minecraft had some mixed results, including some reactions that surprised me a little.

I am still deep in thought on much of this, though.

[Chris Scott]

Great share! I'm curious to find out about your presentations.

I have a presentation that has similar thoughts posted here: http://www.slideshare.net/cscottsy/classroom-3

It's all about the culture.

Chris Scott

Santa Ynez School