The Landrush of 1889 circa 2014...

While this post is going to be used to complete a Creativity Quest in my class, I also want to use it as a sounding board for some of my first thoughts on using MineCraft in the classroom. This is by no means a complete breakdown of everything going on in my mind, but a quick glimpse of what I was thinking about after my first experience. 

There I was, a block version of myself in a weird block land called Minecraft. I was with 25 fellow classmates, virtual avatars, and pretend settlers.There was a moment, where I had to stop looking for the best piece of land, and start looking for ANY piece of land. It was a shotgun start and the only difference between the supply and demand of land in Minecraft compared to Oklahoma in 1889 was the ability for our virtual characters to hover and fly.  Given the historical context of the "sooners" and "boomers" if this was a capability in the real life Oklahoma Land Rush, the results may have been much more interesting!  Allow me to get back on topic, as students in a virtual space we came as close to reliving the Oklahoma Land Rush as is possible in 2014. Short of a teacher taking students into a field and having them build makeshift "Soddies". (which does sound fun the more I think of it) Minecraft allows for reenactments and virtual lessons second to none for hands on learners(or those of us that like unique learning environments). What we found was the immersible feelings students can have with history(in this lesson) or in a virtual environment is a formula for success other instructors can use.  It is one part teacher as the scene director. Our professor challenged our knowledge of the event in 1889 and provided context and correlation for the journey we were about to embark on.  The teacher is also the "control". As an instructor any lesson plan worth using needs us to fill in the blanks for the students. Just because this particular lesson was in a virtual environment doesn't mean the instructional process is crumbled up and thrown out. I would argue when you ask the students to enter into a virtual world like Minecraft it is even more important to have a structured plan of attack.  With that said, the enjoyment learning about the Land Rush came from the failure-for-fun environment. Making mistakes was forgiven, and essential for a better understanding of the lesson itself. Failing in a virtual environment allows for a powerful teachable moment where real life consequences could have been far worse.  For example, I wanted a lot of cows, it seemed to be a historically accurate recreation to have cattle. So I crafted and created cows and went back to building my home that I staked a claim to in the Land Rush. My cows were then gone. Poof. I made a mistake in not building a fence, I would have been a terrible settler. The light went on, I would have been a terrible settler indeed, but also how much work went into those homes and lifestyles in 1889 was lost on me until I realized; what if I needed those cattle to survive?  I'd be doomed, I never pretended to be a settler before, I felt like one for the first time in my life, after I left my cattle run free. These types of reflection and thought brought the power of the lesson to life in a virtual world.

Another formula reminder is students as respectful participants to the fun, but still having fun.   At one point I accidentally dug a hole, trapped a chicken, and then covered the hole with a rock. People threw eggs at each other, stole horses, punched things, tamed horses as pets, created a Tardis and built lava pools of doom on top of their houses  We weren't scolded  for goofing off or that not being part of the lesson and"learning". It happened. It was funny. We all moved on. The ability for the students to have fun, but tow the line of staying on task is an important function of the class environment(virtual or real). I know and have seen instructors that have NO control of their class. There is a low level of respect from the students that gets demonstrated when they start having fun and they generally do not understand when the line is crossed. What makes that situation worse is the instructor cannot successfully bring the students back across the threshold.  This type of instructor will lose control in the virtual world just as easily. That is not a virtual world problem, that is a teacher problem. The students will respond to the environment they are used to. A teacher in 100% control will be able to keep that control in the virtual space.

Creativity and learning should always go hand in hand. Thankfully Minecraft does both very well. Allowing for individual expression centered on a learning objective or theme. What makes this even better is the controls are not hard to figure out and accessibility is a highlight for educational use. My only concern the more I dive into the world of using virtual spaces and games in the classroom is still the idea of the digital divide. It pains me that the students who could benefit the most from an experience like mine in Minecraft might not be able to. Still, as educators we should continue to explore these incredible educational tools.  Below are some screen shots from our adventure I will be turning in as an assignment for our creativity quest in Minecraft. I expect to be posting A LOT more this fall semester.