Integrating meaningful Minecraft activities into the Curriculum.

 

 



 

Minecraft continues to be an impressive tool to ensure engagement from the pupils and develop opportunities for fantastic teaching and learning in the classroom. Along with the existing large number of apps and programs we use, it is making a positive impact on everyday teaching and learning. 

In my classroom we have both MinecraftEDU and the iPad app, Minecraft Pocket Edition.  As soon as I mention ‘workstations’ ‘iPads’ ‘Book Creator’ and the other apps we use the children are focused and engaged straight away.  I find this to be the case with Minecraft as well. Up until a year ago I thought Minecraft was just another game such as DOOM and FIFA as I had played as a child. However, over the course of the last few months I have been exploring the many opportunities for game based learning, in particular with Minecraft.

The best thing about implementing Minecraft into teaching and learning are the ideas from the children.  They are the experts in this game and nearly every day they are showing me new features and generating new ideas on how we can use it in school.  If you look at one of my previous posts, you can read about how we have linked up with the AmmA Centre in Armagh to design and build a 3D model of our school to scale with Minecraft and then use a 3D printer to create the model.  

Those new to the concept of Minecraft in education, as I was a year ago, will be wondering how it can be implemented in the classroom to maximise pupil engagement and deliver real and meaningful learning opportunities.  Some of my future posts will be dedicated to sharing these ideas.  For now please take a look below at the comments from the experts on how it can be used successfully in the classroom

Internet Safety Week in Primary 6.

 



This week is Internet Safety Week in our school.  There are lots of activities planned to raise awarenes of being safe online.  The theme this year is 'Lets create a better internet together.'  E-Safety is a major part of our School Development Plan and all the members of staff feel passionate about the safety of children while accessing mobile technologies.

I thought this could give us some inspiration for another blogpost in which the children can link the theme of Internet Safety with writing for different audiences. 

The children have taken part in a range of activities available on the Think You Know website.  They have accessed lessons from CEOP and they will benefit from an Internet Safety talk from the NSPCC.  These experiences should make the children more aware of how to be safe online.

In the comments section below, have a look at how the children have identified all the ways to be safe online and what they could do if they encounter an issue.

The children have had access to  http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/8_10/   throughout the year for Internet Safety projects.

Digital Learning project with the AmmA Centre.

An excellent morning of learning took place today with the beginning of our Digital Learning project with Daniel and Emma from the AmmA Centre in Armagh.  I applied to be part of this project last May and we were lucky to be one of the few selected to work alongside the AmmA Centre in a project using technology in the classroom.

As there are major building works taking place at my school, we thought that this would be a a good way to use technology and link it with real life contexts.  The final goal of the project will be to create a scale model of the school in the Minecraft World, then showcase it using a 3D printer.  The children are very excited with the prospect of this excellent opportunity to take part in high quality teaching and learning.

This morning, Daniel and Emma arrived to begin the planning process of the project with the children, using Minecraft Pocket Edition on the iPads.  It was a fantastic morning of learning with children linking the topics of area, perimeter and volume with the project. 

The children will tell you all about it.  Take a look at the comments section below for their thoughts on this morning.