Minecraft - A Mother's View - Part One

I'm accustomed to Minecraft in the home. My eldest son, approaching is 10th birthday has been a minecraft player since the tender age of 3 and 3 quarters, by 5 a serious devotee, bordering on obsessive.  His little brother, just turned 6 and is just as enthusiastic as his older sibling.

This Saturday morning, like many before, I find the two of them sharing a perch on the same rickety office chair in front of the play station, dueling diamond swords in 2 player mode amidst a rising storm of raucous battle banter. Boys will be boys,

Whilst on the face of it this seems like typical macho, quasi-aggressive game play, I don't feel the usual pang of ‘guilt’ as I check my phone and realise they’ve been at this for 3 hours already (and its not even breakfast yet)  In-fact, my thoughts are quite the opposite, even in full battle, they’re exploring, failing and learning.  When they’re not killing each other, but rather creating a world of pure imagination, that learning is amplified several fold.  

I still feel guilt over excessive screen time though, but that’s another story for another day.

So, I’ve been asking myself two questions,

• Why is it that I feel that Minecraft is good gaming, even when my boys are killing each other….  

and

• What would it mean when/if my boys use minecraft in the classroom as well as at home.  

In today’s post, I'm going to explore the first of these two questions….

Why do I think Minecraft is “Good” gaming?

First, Minecraft - the origin story; Marcus Persson, aka Notch, released what he initially called “Cave Game” back in 2009. The games 1st player perspective (as opposed to top down) and blocky graphics were heavily influenced by another game “Infiniminer”, which was released only weeks before Minecraft.  In-fact, minecraft could be considered a creative iteration of Infiniminer, Persson admits as much in the post that accompanies the 2009 video upload teaser of the game.

Posted May 13, 2009 - This is a very early test of an Infiniminer clone I’m working on. It will have more resource management and materials, if I ever get around to finishing it,” says Persson.  

The game allowed users to enter entire endless worlds, to create virtually anything the mind can conceive using blocks, gathering more of these block shaped resources in order to create ever more complex imaginings.  As a result, players develop a deep sense of ownership, each world is unique, with players investing time and pure creative inspiration.

Is Minecraft just virtual Lego's? It is well understood that block play is one of the most valuable learning experiences available for young children. Block play stimulates learning in all domains of development, intellectual, physical, social-emotional and language.  Blocks enhance children's problem-solving abilities, mathematics skills, and language and literacy abilities. And constructing “creations” builds self esteem and feelings of success.

There is no evidence that Marcus Persson intended intended Minecraft as an educational tool, however, whether it was intended or not, it’s potential as such has long been recognised by the Education Sector.

I recall visiting a South Auckland Intermediate around 2011, delivering a laptop to a  customer, the rather progressive Technology Teacher was delighted to show me his Lab, where lined up around the edge of the class were workstations all running Minecraft.  Back then, he was musing about the acceleration and engagement of these pupils as they constructed the Great Pyramid of Giza, block by block, no mean feat, considering the real thing is an engineering masterpiece.  This project spanned many areas of the curriculum, including math, social science and technology. I recall being intrigued, as I peered over the shoulders of the students, I remember being rather unimpressed with the UI, the blocks were what put me off, but I was very impressed with the focus and steely determination on the faces of the year 8 students as they calculated and constructed their own version.  That was quite something.

Some time would pass before I’d experience minecraft again, but the memory of this South Auckland classroom stuck with me.  7 years later, I see my own sons elaborate structures, inventing and reinventing, and I envy the endless expression of imagining at their fingertips.

My 6 year old is obsessed with spelling and words, repeating much of what my husband and I say, by spelling out our words, over and over to himself.  When he’s playing in minecraft, he has access to an inventory of words for building materials expanding his vocabulary as well as providing opportunities to discover their meaning. I know he relishes this experience, and I love it just as much being able to share in his discoveries.  Although, I’ll admit, the “50 questions” game does wear thin sometimes.

Minecraft is more than virtual Lego, where the end result is prescribed on the outside of the box.  This is total, pure, unlimited freedom of expression.

 

Sure, there are always risks in the digital realm, online gaming is a closely monitored activity in our house, but even as this expands for us, it will provide us the opportunity to teach and learn online social behavior together.  

Overall I love minecraft for my kids, and yes, I do consider minecraft 'good gaming’ as much as drawing, or Lego, or anything else creative they choose to spend their time on.  

Which leads me to my next pondering….

I see endless potential in minecraft to model the physical world and provide opportunity to assist with the learning of a boundless number of subjects, including coding & chemistry, arts and humanities to science and technology, and beyond.   Now Minecraft is available free of charge to NZ Schools through the Ministry of Education / Microsoft School Agreement, the next question for me is …….

What would it mean when/if my boys were to use minecraft in the classroom as well as at home?   I’ll cover this in my next blog post.

For now, I would love to know, what are your thoughts;

• What do you think the benefits or dangers may be for minecraft at home?
• What have you seen your little darlings create in minecraft,and has that given you rise for joy, or concern?
• Would you be happy to see minecraft used in the classroom & do you think this would this impact the way it was used at home?