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There’s a small but growing movement that believes Minecraft could soon be one of the most valuable teaching tools schools have to offer.
Right now that movement is made up primarily of teachers, who are already using the game’s ability to render 3D shapes and buildings, import and export 3D models, to teach computer science, math, and history, and just about everything else in their classrooms. Still, it’s something a lot of educators probably haven’t thought of —
but that’s cool, because now, PBS Ideas Channel, which delivers educational ideas and information to willing learners, has delivered an awesome little bit of proof just how Minecraft could be a huge and worldwide education game-changer. Below, host Mike Rugnetta explains all its attributes in a pretty entertaining fashion — specifically noting that Minecraft, unlike most teaching games, allows for a sort of fluidity and improvisation that normal educational games don’t offer. For example: from the aforementioned 3D model building, to teaching Physics — it’s truly a multi-purpose educational tool that could even be used to teach kids how to program and write code themselves.
The game’s MMO component would also encourage other kids to get involved in a collaborative or competitive manner, which would will make it more exciting for everyone involved. According to the host, nearly 25,000 students worldwide now play Minecraft EDU — and that number is only growing, due to the game’s versatility.
According to gaming/education expert Jane McGonigal, ideally we’d have schools that just don’t use games to teach, but ones that actually become games, where “every course, every activity, every assignment, every moment of instruction would be designed and implemented by borrowing key mechanics and participation strategies from the most engaging multiplayer games.” McGonigal believes that having games like Minecraft at every school in the world would be ideal — not only because of its uses for teaching children, but also because it wold show that game-based learning is incredibly valuable. Ultimately, the right kind of games will make learning easier, more fun, and even make children smarter.
It makes sense –Minecraft has already proved itself to be an awesome multi-purpose teaching tool, but it could also be the first step on the path to McGonigal’s utopia (which sounds awesome, if a bit hard to come by). If it can encourage children to compete and collaborate in a friendly way in a time of rampant bullying, as well as give American children a leg up in the technology world, even better:
Jeff Nau – who has written 1264 posts on The Jace Hall Show.
Jeff Nau is a main contributor to the Jace Hall Show covering pop culture and music trends in the nerd community. He has contributed to San Diego City Beat, 944, and Ill Literature, amongst others, and spends his spare time working as an artist and photographer.

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