A0: Ben Spieldenner, HS English teacher & Minecraft Global Mentor, Ohio (not quite snow biome), grit: doing what needs to be done, not always what we like to do #MinecraftEdu
Mark G, elementary educator and consultant for #GBL. Is Armpit a Biome (NJ)? I based this chat off of just finishing #GRIT by @angeladuckw and really enjoyed it. The questions entail what Grit means to me. #MinecraftEDU
A0 - Hi All. Ben from the Snow Biome (but it was 20C yesterday) Lead of Innovative Design and Gr. 6-12 STEM teacher. Grit is like coarse dirt! #MinecraftEDU
Sarah from Toronto, Digital Content Producer, museum science teacher, and #EdTech geek. Also just got the character count upgrade and WOW that's a lot of space. #minecraftedu
Honestly, no characters are even showing up for me, I wonder if I could just go on and on and on and surpass 280. Looses the whole Twitter feel, not sure what I should even say? #MinecraftEDU
A1: Basis of all games worth playing! I think it took me about 45 times to beat a few Big Daddies in Bioshock. We want to see what is next...afraid of missing something if we don't keep moving forward. #MinecraftEdu
A1 - Games and #GBL provide immediate feedback for students and that is absolutely essential for effective assessment and evaluation! #MinecraftEDU is sometimes too instant! :)
A1: First and Foremost games are iterative and meant to be tried and retried with intent to improve (Deliberate Practice). #MinecraftEDU adds a new element as a sandbox game with iterative design as well.
A1: I think the main way that #minecraftedu addresses those traits, especially in survival mode, is that students do not have instant access to tools and materials. They need to work for everything they do.
A1: Good games are cognitively & socially challenging which cause Ss to struggle through it and learn/practice how to improve their performance #MinecraftEdu
A1: Minecraft on Survival is really great for building resilience. How to plug away when a creeper blows up your build and then make the design BETTER so it doesn't happen again. #AndThenYouFallInLava#MinecraftEDU
A1: Play #MinecraftEdu on the hardest setting like my Ss in survival mode...you will experience #grit as creepers make mincemeat of your amazing structures :)
Very true, Survival Mode is the true game, but working with Redstone and Commandblocks and Game Design in general in Creative can be quite challenging as well. Do you feel Survival Mode builds more Grit? #MinecraftEDU
A1: Games like #MinecraftEdu can support the skills (Hardwork, Effort, Perseverance, Practice, Resilience) to build GRIT or “stick-to-it-iveness” by promoting the use of creative thinking skills and project completion
A1: Many games, including minecraft "make" Ss to work hard. Without effort, perseverance, etc. Its much harder to meet end goals like getting diamonds or building a cool house. And in this situation the game isnt pressuring you to do it. you get out what you put in. #minecraftedu
I wouldn't say more so much as different. Creative redstone/command builds are more about perseverence when you can't figure something out, and Survival is about dealing with unexpected (and often uncontrollable) setbacks. #AndThenYouFallInLava#MinecraftEDU
So a favorite thing for me to do is to use a command block to teleport someone (usually a student) above a Lava Pit with cobwebs for that slow death! #MinecraftEDU
a1: like any improvement, requires thinking, doing, assessing/reflecting, and adjusting/redoing. Speed the iterations w a coach or teacher. And get a dopamine shot w a payoff (music, visual, sound, badge, admiration of peers, etc) #minecraftedu
Not necessarily, I can't wait to do lessons with Redstone. A properly crafted challenge in creative can absolutely address those traits. It's all in the design of the task. #minecraftedu
A2 - Students can tell you more with gameplay, stories and conversations than they ever could on surveys about their interests. While life is happening true passions show easily. #MinecraftEDU
A2: #minecraftEDU and #minecraft at its core is a game that allows anyone to persue their interests. If something goes wrong, you are free to pursue a new way of accomplishing your end goals
A2: Games like #MinecraftEDU, especially Minecraft, allow Ss to realize and visualize those passions and continue to pursue them with instant game feedback, whether it is game-design, coding or programming. #MinecraftEDU
Def one of the top features in the new edition. But I have having great difficulty with Redstone signals in new edition for chain reactions. Have you explored this? #MinecraftEDU
In reply to
@mr_isaacs, @Catherine_D2013, @MuseumGirlSarah
A2: Grit is about finding passions and pursuing them. When students have tasks that are mundane or of little interest to them, they are less passionate #MinecraftEDU brings the learning to life
A2: It's so versatile that there's something that appeals to a wide variety of passions, whether it's writing, game design, coding, art, etc. And multiplayer adds an element that reinforces the thrill of success because you can share it. #MinecraftEdu
Q2: Grit is about finding your passions and pursuing. What is the role of games like #MinecraftEDU in exploring/developing those passions?
@chellymil@mr_isaacs@Qmodo99
Q3: Gritty work has meaning/purpose. How do games like #MinecraftEDU help kids + adults build meaning/purpose in their work & learning?
@mr_isaacs@chellymil@Qmodo99
Experience! And by that I mean XP. Many games have leveling systems, which encourage gamers to work hard and put lots of effort on to achieve higher levels and gain more xp. This instills determination to reach a set goal.
A2: #minecraftedu Games are a low cost way of trying different thing in life to get to know yourself. Are u an entertainer, builder, adventurer, inventor, collaborator, Helper, or critic? Will u code, sell, create, build, heal, or teach — what do you gravitate toward?
A3: I would get WAY more frustrated then my Ss when a specific build wasn't coming out right, an NPC quest wasn't working, etc... My 10 yr old son and my Ss were way more patient! Right @ConnorKropp ? #MinecraftEdu
Sorry, we added an extra Q tonight and they are coming out about 8 min apart instead of the usual 10. Can we extend the hour, much like our Character count is now doubled? #MinecraftEDU
A3: Kids also create meaning through personal associations like rendering IRL builds in the game. This all has an undeniable 'stickiness' that can be applied across curricula. #MinecraftEdu
Q3: meaning/purpose is determined by the Ss. They get pumped over creating awesome structures, or accomplishing challenges in world. They generally have an idea of what they want to do, and are willing to work hard to get there. #minecraftedu
Yes, it is amazing the commands and builds with redstone I have seen done, can hardly wrap my brain around it. I saw @Direwolf20 presentation on Mod Packs at @minefaire POOF, blew my mind! #MinecraftEDU
In reply to
@Qmodo99, @MCKidsAcademy, @Catherine_D2013, @MuseumGirlSarah, @Direwolf20, @minefaire
Yeah Stu! Like Escape Rooms, they are really hard, but if you work hard and persevere, you might still not find that bomb and the president gets blown up. #MinecraftEDU
A3: It allows a safe space to create, experiment, fail, redesign, and re-evaluate that has less physical cost and risk than IRL situations, but fosters the same kind of skillsets and contextual understanding. #minecraftedu#phototest
I’d say for the most part you were pretty calm, cool, and collected when it came to issues like that. BUT I shared your anger with a few problems that would continuously happen #MinecraftEdu
Yes! and students in general find the actual game meaningful and purposeful to begin with. Builds the foundation for additional meaning and purpose! #MinecraftEDU
A3: using #MinecraftEdu as a starting point and launch pad for life skills. Launch for electronics, visual design, movie makings, story telling, play/entertainment, socializing, teaching/leading, artistic aesthetics, coding, producing, team management, team formation, etc.
In reply to
@MGrundel, @mr_isaacs, @chellymil, @Qmodo99
A4: We gotta be careful about this one, as I feel it's up to the support network that a child has around them. Without it, you cannot have the right kind of feedback and the game(s) fall flat on their purpose. #MinecraftEdu
I try to make my #minecraftedu projects about a challenge or open ended idea so Ss can go about their build their own way, get creative & try something new & different #minecraftedu
A3: A lot of the time, the meaning or purpose of a project is assigned by the player in #MinecraftEdu, instead of by an outside source. by working on a project you care about, you are better equipped to learn and improve that project. not just get it done as soon as possible
A3: #MinecraftEDU helps build purpose in student work and learning by providing them with a blank canvas to model and represent their solutions and applications to real-world and other problems #math
Command blocks are crazy fun. My Magic Tree that spits out fireflies when players on Survival are around almost killed me in the build (and the accidental fires SEVEN TIMES) but the rush when it finally WORKED is immeasurable. That's a heck of a thing for learners. #MinecraftEdu
In reply to
@MGrundel, @Qmodo99, @MCKidsAcademy, @Catherine_D2013, @Direwolf20, @minefaire
Examples of Purposeful Work in #MinecraftEDU may include redesigning of public spaces, communal grounds, parks, or even transportation systems to benefit community
Yes I agree! That's super important to do. If you close off an assignment you lose both the potential spontaneity of learning and the potential for true collaboration (through problems that arise). #MinecraftEdu
But it allows me to speak more eloquently using a more expansive vocabulary with a number of sesquipedalian utterances that heretofore would have been an preposterously unthinkable impediment to conversation and in the old Twitter World of #140characters#MinecraftEdu
Again, I think it is easy to be optimistic when it comes to playing certain games, but then the ability to transfer the world-view to other tasks is the challenge. #MinecraftEDU
A3: Helping to build empathy and understanding. Easier to appreciate, empathize, understand those facing struggles when you have context and a "remember how you felt when THIS happened" to refer to. #MinecraftEdu
Have fun Steve!! We'll have to catch up soon...I wish #StardewValley had the multiplayer function working...we could play in a world together and grow lots of Cauliflower #profit#farm#MinecraftEdu
A4: well designed games like #MinecraftEdu meet the player at their level so player knows they *can* succeed and overcome challenges. If too easy, raise difficulty. Also being in social systems (ecology of friends) where others succeed let’s you know you can too.
Great point! Playing at the Zone of Proximal Development #ZPD that is where the most productive struggle occurs and leads to greatest feelings of success. #MinecraftEDU
A4: well designed games like #MinecraftEdu meet the player at their level so player knows they *can* succeed and overcome challenges. If too easy, raise difficulty. Also being in social systems (ecology of friends) where others succeed let’s you know you can too.
@TweetDeck and @Twitter's new 240 characters should never be allowed to play together ever again! It was hard enough keeping up with 140! Now you miss paragraphs! Full Stories! I could go on! Really I could. #MinecraftEDU
A5: Ive had a Ss for almost a year and a half that has been working on the same starwars base in #minecraft. He constantly improved as his skillset grew, and he gained access to more tools and tricks! #minecraftEdu
A5: This is definitely where some assignments fall short. I find myself 'spinning' the concept of an original project to stir further interest. #MinecraftEdu
A4: There's something to be said for a game that allows students to physically build and explore the better world they envision together. #minecraftedu
A4: Exactly...Ss have been successful in #minecraftedu in the past, they know they can work through anything thrown at them. I see a lot of students that struggle in the traditional classroom, become leaders in the world of #Minecraft
A4: Games support and build an optimistic point-of-view and thus promote GRIT by encouraging collaboration and teamwork in real world problem-solving #UN2030#SDGs#MinecraftEdu
A5: The co-op students helping build the museum server who were just as excited and engrossed at the end of their co-op as they were at the start. #MinecraftEdu
Exactly what my vision was for my Ss as they role played the part of members of a new society that communicated solely in #Spanish while playing #MinecraftEduhttps://t.co/h4wHfnbUhM
A5 - This build was the biggest example of Grit and follow-up I've ever witnessed live in #MinecraftEDU. This took forever for a wicked important cause. #VimyRidgehttps://t.co/sBW2uCISxO
A5: I want to stress the idea that follow up is not just about quick bursts of energy, but sustained committment over time, like years. Have you seen this with Ss? #MinecraftEDU
A6: Debfrief with Kids afterwards. Talk about the process and skills used. Break down the sessions and have kids and adults reflect on the work. #MinecraftEDU
A5: #MinecraftEdu been able to see this w my son — extending a MC project, game, task over several weeks (with breaks to reflect/assess). Also by making YouTube series. And our MC minigame design contest where kids had 3 weeks to make, test, and submit video of their game.
A6: an obvious direct transfer is engineering and robotics with #LEGO - it depends on the subject-in game story transfers to a digital narrative, in-game biomes lead to real-word habitat exploration, I suppose you could always shear a real sheep too for #FFA#MinecraftEdu
A5: I haven't had time to see it as I've only been playing 6 months in any context, but I am constantly in awe of projects like Wynncraft and the evident passion and commitment from young entrepreneurs. https://t.co/exqqXRltTe#MinecraftEdu
Yes, and going beyond, back to the skills of perseverance, hard work, resilience, deliberate practice, and yes, Creativity. How do we teach kids to transfer those skills out of games and into other subjects and life? #MinecraftEDU
That’s awesome-can someone write a script that allows him to part an ocean to walk through & if he enters a desert biome it becomes racked with plagues #MinecraftEDU
A6: #minecraftEDU Lead virtual teams using technology to accomplish tangible results in any area of life — and you’ve now used your gaming skills. Reflecting w parents and kids helps (what’s *your* purpose in playing the game? What real-life skill are you practicing in game?)
A6 I think we need to help people see that #MinecraftEdu is more than just a game, that it's a tool that has appeal to students and practical uses in the classroom. It just takes a little willingness to be lost and step outside ones comfort zone to find success.
A6: A couple possibilities: Use Minecraft to build prototypes that are carried out of the gamespace into physical space. Using immersive storytelling maps fosters a deeper contextual understanding and empathy of history and social studies. #MinecraftEdu
A6: The skills and traits learned in #MinecraftEDU can be transferred to other areas of life by connecting students with experts and having students share their project work with others in the global community #Skype2Learn
Transferring resilience/perseverance is hard, because those tend to come when a person finds the task worthwhile enough to persevere…so I guess that means making the external world tasks as engaging and pertinent as those in #MinecraftEDU
The closest I have seen this is working over years with the same Ss as they progress through grades in school and so too their ideas/abilities for #MinecraftEdu progress and grow in depth and complexity. #GRIT
