Benefit 1: Using Minecraft in the classroom encourages students to participate in classes.
Many pupils are intrinsically motivated by computer gaming. This activity drew the attention of the pupils in the class, and they were eager to participate. While the pre-test and post-test portions of our study were not meant to assess levels of involvement, we did sit down with the students to gather their thoughts on the project. Our interactions with the students revealed that the project had a high level of motivation for the pupils. “Minecraft made it more fascinating,” one kid said plainly. Simply increasing student engagement is a solid reason to use Minecraft in the classroom. After all, getting pupils interested in the assignment is only half the battle.
Benefit 2: The game encourages pupils to think creatively.
The pupils’ gaming experiences helped them see their castles more clearly. After playing Minecraft in the classroom, one student, for example, told us, “I got a lot more ideas to write about.” “I got a lot more experience with the fortress,” one person stated, while another said, “it’s easier to express things on Minecraft since I can see them.” As a result, we feel that the creative features of digital game-based learning aided the students’ creative writing works.
Benefit 3: The game encourages critical thinking.
Scaffolding is the practice of assisting pupils in their learning. Students should be encouraged to think more thoroughly about a topic or given ways for completing a task with the help of supports. Minecraft served as a computer scaffold, as we witnessed. For example, the game presented the students with a platter of choices for how to proceed with their castle-building effort. One kid stated that the game “made it more exciting and gave me more ideas” for building his castle, emphasizing how the game provided suggestions. In the succeeding writing exercise, another student noted that there were “a lot of things [available] and you may explain them all.” As a result, we feel that the game allowed students to expand on their thinking by giving them nudges and ideas on how to proceed.
4th advantage: Minecraft can encourage social learning.
Social and observational learning is widely regarded as a successful educational strategy, and this approach can be used in the classroom when utilizing Minecraft. Minecraft, for example, maybe played in multiplayer modes, allowing students to monitor and comment on the progress of other students’ creations. Unfortunately, this mode was not used in our project. The students, on the other hand, were quick to point out that they would have delighted to be able to cooperate with, observe, and model ideas for their friends in multiplayer mode. “If we played with other people, we could go watch other people see how we could develop,” one kid explained. As a result, we advise teachers to take it a step further and check out the multiplayer mode to see how students cooperate, observe, and learn from one another’s efforts.
Finally
Educators are increasingly considering computer game-based learning as a valuable resource for students. Digital play, like physical play, provides social and cognitive advantages. Our research found that computer gaming can help people develop their creative writing skills. Minecraft’s creative gaming can be used to develop expressive and creative written output when matched with literacy challenges. There are, of course, a plethora of different ways for teachers to incorporate Minecraft into their classrooms. Indeed, the official Minecraft: Education Edition website has lesson ideas for students of all ages and in a wide range of subjects, including chemistry and history. More teachers using computer games like Minecraft in their classrooms and experimenting with how the games may engage learners, inspire creative thinking, scaffold new thinking, and even foster social skills would be exciting to us.
