Minecraft in the Classroom: Ideas, inspiration, and student projects for teachers

385 Pages·2014·27.203 MB·English

by  Colin Gallagher (editor)

Minecraft in the Classroom
Ideas, inspiration, and student projects for teachers
Colin Gallagher, Editor
with Shane Asselstine · Dan Bloom · André Chercka · Adam Clark
Stephen Elford · David Lee · John Miller · Eric Walker · James York
Minecraft in the Classroom
Ideas, inspiration, and student projects for teachers
Shane Asselstine, Dan Bloom, André Chercka, Adam Clarke, Stephen
Elford, Colin Gallagher, David Lee, John Miller, Eric Walker, and James
York
Peachpit Press
Find us on the web at: www.peachpit.com
To report errors, please send a note to [email protected]
Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education
Copyright © 2015 Shane Asselstine, Chapter 8.2
Copyright © 2015 Dan Bloom, Chapter 7.1
Copyright © 2015 André Chercka, Chapter 11
Copyright © 2015 Adam Clarke, Chapter 13
Copyright © 2015 Stephen Elford, Chapters 7.2 and 8.1
Copyright © 2015 Colin Gallagher, Introduction and Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4,
10, 12
Copyright © 2015 David Lee, Chapter 5
Copyright © 2015 John Miller, Chapter 6.2
Copyright © 2015 Eric Walker, Chapter 6.1
Copyright © 2015 James York, Chapter 9
Editors: Clifford Colby and Robyn Thomas
Production editor: Tracey Croom
Compositor: Maureen Forys
Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry
Copyeditor: Scout Festa
Cover design: Mimi Heft
Interior design: Mimi Heft
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for
reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected].
Notice of Liability
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis without
warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of
the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any
person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to
be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this
book or by the computer software and hardware products described in
it.
Trademarks
Minecraft is a trademark of of Notch Development AB. MinecraftEdu is
a trademark of TeacherGaming LLC. Many of the designations used by
manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as
trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and
Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as
requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and
services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion
only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of
infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade
name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this
book.
ISBN 13: 978-0-133-85801-3
ISBN 10:        0-133-85801-4
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my family back home in Ireland. We may be far
away, but you have always supported my decisions in life. I also
dedicate this book to my wife, Sharyn, and my other family in Cleveland,
Ohio. Thanks for putting up with me, everyone!
My friends in Singapore, in Ireland, and spread around the world.
Thanks for making the journey fun. Block by block.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all the teachers who agreed to take part in this book. I
know it’s not the easiest of things to do, but you were all up for the
challenge. Thank you also to all the teachers and students I’ve
interviewed in my Minechat series on YouTube—you are truly inspiring.
Thanks must go out to the school administrators around the world
(including my own) who put their trust in their teachers in
implementing things like Minecraft in their schools.
Thanks to all my teaching colleagues who have put up with me and had
faith in all the Minecraft projects we undertook.
Thanks to Rob and Joel and my wife, Sharyn, for taking the time to look
over some chapters. Finally, thanks to Robyn and Cliff for keeping me on
track throughout the making of this book.
Contents
Introduction
Part 1: Minecraft in Education: The Basics
1 What Is Minecraft?
“Minecraft Is...”
The Basics
2 Working with MinecraftEdu
Getting MinecraftEdu
Server Setup
Getting Students into Your Minecraft World
Accessing the Teacher Menu
Using MinecraftEdu Blocks
Making Your World Accessible from Outside Your School
A Quick Word on Mods
3 Working with Regular Minecraft
Installing the Minecraft Server
Editing Minecraft Server Files
4 Minecraft in Education—Why?
Collaboration
Creativity
Differentiation
Digital Citizenship
Engagement
Fun
Independence
Leadership
Relevance
Part 2: Minecraft Classroom Projects
5 Teaching with Minecraft Pocket Edition
Project Summary
Project Goals
Learning Objectives
Organizing the Project
Getting Started
Completing the Tasks
Reflection and Assessment
Project Future
Resources
6.1 Minecraft and Teaching Humanities
Project Summary
Project Goals
Learning Objectives
Organizing the Project
Getting Started
Completing the Tasks
Reflection and Assessment
Project Future
Resources
References
6.2 Minecraft and Teaching Humanities
Project Summary
Project Goals
Learning Objectives