Emerging Technology ProjectBy: Ashley Cross

“Yes, they are fun, but [games] also allow players a chance to take on new roles and experience worlds in which they learn and problem solve. [The best] games offer something new to students -- entire worlds in which learners are central, important participants - worlds where what they know is directly related to what they are able to do and, ultimately, who they become”-Barab et al, 2009

Game-Based Learning

CONSTRUCTIONISM: EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Constructionism shares constructivism’s connotation of learning as ‘building knowledge structures’ It then adds the idea that this happens especially felicitously in a context where the learner is engaged in constructing a public entity.-Seymour Papert, Mindstorms

HISTORY OF MINECRAFT

• First created in 2009 by Markus “Notch” Persson • Published by the Swedish company Mojang• Purchased by Microsoft for $2.5 billion on

November 6, 2014• Over 54 million copies sold across platforms

to date

GAMEPLAY

• Survival mode• Creative mode• Adventure mode- experience user-crafted

custom maps• Spectator mode

REDSTONE: CIRCUITRY IN MINECRAFT

Equivalent to electricity in Minecraft

Printer inside Minecraft

Working ComputerThis one can load 16 lines of code into "RAM" (memory),

perform division and display hexadecimal notation.

EXAMPLES OF USER-CREATED WORLDS

MINECRAFT EDU

• We are an independent game development company started by three teachers and programmers from the United States and Finland. Our mission is to expand game-based learning into classrooms worldwide. • Online community with resources and

support for educators

Computational Thinking + Minecraft

= Programming Mods

MOD DESIGN VIDEO

3D PRINTING CREATIONS FROM MINECRAFT

Questions?