Nope, not enjoying Minecraftedu yet. There is a complete lack of joy thinking about playing video games. Perhaps the key word is play. Play is something to do when the work is done…and my work is never done. Therefore, no video game time for this old lady! Guess I would rather be creating something tangible: cooking, sewing, knitting, crocheting, gardening, anything productive. Back in the day in Montana, to obtain an undergraduate education degree, student teachers had to demonstrate proficiency in piano and guitar. I can barely play the radio and it is rarely in tune. Somehow, I managed to plunk out a song or two on piano without too much trouble. The guitar was a whole other story. It was very painful and I was miserable, but I managed to strum a song or two, just enough to qualify as proficient. To this day I hold guitar players in high esteem and my fingers are grateful for never having played a guitar since. I think that is my goal with Minecraftedu: suffer the discomfort long enough to become proficient and then hope my grandchildren don’t invite me to play video games with them!
Here’s the bulleted version of week three reflection:
- student created worlds!
- both teachers and students use creativity with Minecraftedu
- “what is the point of Minecraft?” “pointless”
- no multitasking while engaged in the game
- “exploration, discovery, creation, collaboration, and problem-solving while allowing teachers to shepherd play toward any subject area”
- important to make goals clear and make progress transparent
- contrast between creativity in MCedu and the lack thereof in The Giver
- have to stop allowing myself to be distracted by the research because I take off on too many time consuming learning tangents!
- prediction that gamification will be a permanent fixture in the future of today’s students.
- MCedu wiki is like my bible, and is always open in my browser now and have just added the google group link
- virtual legos making virtual diroamas
grannynannycook 