Minecraft for Higher Ed? Try it. Pros, Cons, Recommendations?
Description: Why Minecraft, the online video game? How can Minecraft improve learning for higher education? We’ll begin with a live demo in which all can participate (see “Minecraft for Free”). We’ll review “Examples, Not Rumors” of successful adaptations and USES of Minecraft for teaching/learning in higher education. Especially those submitted in advance And we’ll try to extract from these activities a few recommendations/questions/requests re Minecraft in higher education.
Callaghan, N. (2016). Investigating the role of Minecraft in educational learning environments. Educational Media International, 53(4), 244-260. doi:10.1080/09523987.2016.1254877
Noelene Callaghan dissects the evolution in Australian education from a global perspective. She rightfully draws attention (p. 245) to inevitable changes in the educational world, which still remain ignored: e.g., the demise of “traditional” LMS (Educase is calling for their replacement with digital learning environments https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/07/06/next-gen-digital-learning-environment/ and so does the corporate world of learning: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/03/28/digital-learning/ ), the inevitability of BYOD (mainly by the “budget restrictions and sustainability challenges” (p. 245); by the assertion of cloud computing, and, last but not least, by the gamification of education.
p. 245 literature review. In my paper, I am offering more comprehensive literature review. While Callaghan focuses on the positive, my attempt is to list both pros and cons: http://scsu.mn/1F008Re
246 General use of massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs)
levels of interaction have grown dramatically and have led to the creation of general use of massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs)
247 In teaching and learning environments, affordances associated with edugames within a project-based learning (PBL) environment permit:
These affordances develop both social and cognitive abilities of students
Nebel, S., Schneider, S., Beege, M., Kolda, F., Mackiewicz, V., & Rey, G. (2017). You cannot do this alone! Increasing task interdependence in cooperative educational videogames to encourage collaboration. Educational Technology Research & Development, 65(4), 993-1014. doi:10.1007/s11423-017-9511-8
Abrams, S. S., & Rowsell, J. (2017). Emotionally Crafted Experiences: Layering Literacies in Minecraft. Reading Teacher, 70(4), 501-506.
Nebel, S., Schneider, S., & Daniel Rey, G. (2016). Mining Learning and Crafting Scientific Experiments: A Literature Review on the Use of Minecraft in Education and Research. Source: Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 19(192), 355–366. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.19.2.355
Cipollone, M., Schifter, C. C., & Moffat, R. A. (2014). Minecraft as a Creative Tool: A Case Study. International Journal Of Game-Based Learning, 4(2), 1-14.
Niemeyer, D. J., & Gerber, H. R. (2015). Maker culture and Minecraft : implications for the future of learning. Educational Media International, 52(3), 216-226. doi:10.1080/09523987.2015.1075103
Nebel, S., Schneider, S., & Daniel Rey, G. (2016). Mining Learning and Crafting Scientific Experiments: A Literature Review on the Use of Minecraft in Education and Research. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 19(192), 355–366. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.19.2.355
Wilkinson, B., Williams, N., & Armstrong, P. (2013). Improving Student Understanding, Application and Synthesis of Computer Programming Concepts with Minecraft. In The European Conference on Technology in the Classroom 2013. Retrieved from http://iafor.info/archives/offprints/ectc2013-offprints/ECTC2013_0477.pdf
Uusi-Mäkelä, M., & Uusi-Mäkelä, M. (2014). Immersive Language Learning with Games: Finding Flow in MinecraftEdu. EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology (Vol. 2014). Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/noaccess/148409/
Birt, J., & Hovorka, D. (2014). Effect of mixed media visualization on learner perceptions and outcomes. In 25th Australasian Conference on Information Systems (pp. 1–10). Retrieved from http://epublications.bond.edu.au/fsd_papers/74
Al Washmi, R., Bana, J., Knight, I., Benson, E., Afolabi, O., Kerr, A., Hopkins, G. (2014). Design of a Math Learning Game Using a Minecraft Mod. https://doi.org/10.13140/2.1.4660.4809
The emergence of the chief online officer position at many institutions is strong evidence that online education is becoming more mainstream
Revenue generation and tuition
most responding institutions have online program tuition rates that are aligned with standard tuition or that are higher. Those higher tuition rates ranged from 12 percent of private institutions to 29 percent of four-year public institutions, and lower than standard tuition rates ranged from 3 percent of community colleges to 37 percent of private institutions. None of the larger online programs reported tuition rates for online students that are lower than standard tuition rates, and 20 percent reported higher tuition rates for online study.
Course development
Forty percent of chief online officers in larger programs larger programs use instructional design support, and 30 percent use a team approach to online course design. Ten percent outsource course design.
This kind of course development is in stark contrast to practices of chief online officers in mid-sized and smaller programs. Among the smallest online education programs, 18 percent of chief online officers expect faculty to develop online courses independently, and 53 percent treat instructional design support as a faculty option. This means that a combined 71 percent of smaller programs do not mandate the use of instructional design specialists.
In 13 percent of mid-sized programs, faculty are expected to develop courses independently, and in 64 percent of mid-sized programs, they are free to choose whether or not to involve instructional design specialists, yielding a combined 77 percent of programs that do not require the use of instructional design expertise.
Teaching, learning and technology
The CHLOE survey also asked chief online officers to name three technologies or tools they consider most important or innovative for their institution’s fully-online programs. Eighty-one percent first listed an LMS, while others named audio and video conferencing and lecture capture. The technologies most-cited for second- and third-most important were conferencing, video and lecture capture software. (see Plamen’s effort to start faculty discussion on lecture capture here: http://blog.stcloudstate.edu/coursecapture/)
“There was no sign of much-hyped innovations like adaptive learning, competency-based education LMS solutions, or simulation or game-based learning tools,” according to the study. “Such tools may be in use for specific courses or programs but based on responses to CHLOE, these have yet to achieve institution-wide adoption at any scale.” (see Plamen’s efforts start a discussion on game-based learning here: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=game-based+learning
95 percent of larger programs (those with 2,500 or more online program students) are “wholly asynchronous” while 1.5 percent are mainly or completely synchronous. About three-quarters (73 percent) of mid-sized programs (schools with between 500 and 2,499 online program students) and 62 percent of smaller programs are fully asynchronous.
The asynchronous nature of this kind of education may explain why threaded discussions turned up as the most commonly named teaching and learning technique, mentioned by 27.4 percent of respondents, closely followed by practice-based learning, listed by 27.3 percent of survey participants.
While the LMS plays a significant role in online programming, the report pointed to a distinct lack of references to “much-hyped innovations,” such as adaptive learning, competency-based education systems, simulation or game-based learning tools. (my note: my mouth run dry of repeating every time people start becoming orgasmic about LMS, D2L in particular)
four in 10 require the use of instructional design support, three in 10 use a team approach for online course design and one in 10 outsources the work. Overall, some 80 percent of larger programs use instructional design expertise.
In the smallest programs, instructional design support is treated as a “faculty option” for 53 percent of institutions. Another 18 percent expect faculty to develop their online courses independently. For 13 percent of mid-sized programs, the faculty do their development work independently; another 64 percent may choose whether or not to bring in instructional design help. (my note: this is the SCSU ‘case’)
Measuring Quality
Among the many possible quality metrics suggested by the researchers, the five adopted most frequently for internal monitoring were:
Student achievement of program objectives (83 percent);
Student retention and graduation rates (77 percent);
continued practice, clear goals and immediate feedback
project-based learning, Minecraft and SimCity EDU
Gamification of learning versus learning with games
organizations to promote gaming and gamification in education (p. 6 http://scsu.mn/1F008Re)
the “chocolate-covered broccoli” problem
Discussion: why gaming and gamification is not accepted in a higher rate? what are the hurdles to enable greater faster acceptance? What do you think, you can do to accelerate this process?
Gaming in an academic library
why the academic library? sandbox for experimentation
the connection between digital literacy and gaming and gamificiation
Gilchrist and Zald’s model for instruction design through assessment
Discussion: based on the example (http://web.stcloudstate.edu/pmiltenoff/bi/), how do you see transforming academic library services to meet the demands of 21st century education?
Gaming, gamification and assessment (badges)
inability of current assessments to evaluate games as part of the learning process
“microcredentialing” through digital badges
Mozilla Open Badges and Badgestack
leaderboards
Discussion: How do you see a transition from the traditional assessment to a new and more flexible academic assessment?
Like the millennials before them, Generation Z grew up as digital natives, with devices a fixture in the learning experience. According to the survey results, these students want “engaging, interactive learning experiences” and want to be “empowered to make their own decisions.” In addition, the students “expect technology to play an instrumental role in their educational experience.”
to cater to the digital appetites of tomorrow’s higher education learners, technology in education will need to play a bit of catch-up, states the New Media Consortium’s 2015 Course Apps report. According to NMC’s analysts, digital-textbook adoption was one of the leading trends helping to reinvent how higher education students learn. But publishers have not captured the innovations happening elsewhere in the digital marketplace.
The Generation Z report ranked the effectiveness of 11 education technology tools:
Where is MC 205? Per campus map, Miller Center 205 is on the second floor, direction computer lab, right-handside, pass the counter with printers on both sides. Please use this virtual reality direction map to find the room (use Google Chrome and activate QuickTime plugin).
Dreamweaver: 4 Mondays – 10-10:45AM . Jan 18, 25, Feb 1, 8 ; location MC 205. attendees cap is 5
Keywords: web development, web design, Adobe Dreamweaver
Description: Adobe Dreamweaver CC is the default web development tool on campus. In four consecutive weeks, learn the basics of Dreamweaver, web development, web design and maintaining web pages on the Web. Site map and site structure. HTML and HTML5 basics, basics of CSS, page properties, text editing, hyperlinks and images, tables, forms.
Description: In four 45 min sessions, learn the basics of image editing. A comprehensive understanding of Adobe Photoshop and its essential tools. Design and edit, adjusting images for the Internet and print outs. Learn image formats, compressions, layers. Retouching, repairing and correcting photos
Social Media in Education 9:30-10:15 AM. Feb 3, 10, 17, 24. location MC 205. attendees cap is 15
Keywords: social media, social media in education, social media and learning, social media and teaching, social media and communication, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Diigo, Delicious, Evernote, SideVibe, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat, Google+, Zotero, Mendeley, blogs, wikis, podcasts, visuals, text
Description: In four 45 min sessions, structure your approach to social media and assess how to use in teaching and learning. What is social media and how to use it. How to discriminate between personal and professional use of social media. Amidst 180 most popular social media tools, acquire a robust structure to cluster them and orient yourself quick and easy, which tools fit best your teaching materials and methods to enable learning and communication with your students. Visuals versus text and how to combine them for effective communication and teaching. Policies, engagement of students. Expanding and improving research and organization of your research through social media and networking toward your research through social media.
Description: in 45 minutes we can start a conversation about identification of cheating practices and determination of what plagiarism is, considering generational differences, the evolution of the Internet. Identifying of “cheating” can provide robust boundaries for understanding students’ behavior and identifying practices and methods to alleviate such behavior, including change of teaching methods and practices.
10 basics steps to start social media. March 16, 11-11:45AM location MC 205. attendees cap is 15
Keywords: social media, social media in education, social media and learning, social media and teaching, social media and communication, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Diigo, Delicious, Evernote, SideVibe, Pinterest, Vine, Snapchat, Google+, Zotero, Mendeley, blogs, wikis, podcasts, visuals, text
Description: introduction to social media and its use for personal and professional purposes. Ideas and scenarios of using different social media tools in education. Hands-on exercises for using social media in teaching.
Description: Gaming and Gamification is one of the most pronounced trends in education as per the New Horizon Report. Besides the increase of participation and enthusiasm, it increases learning. Introduction to gaming and gamification by establishing definitions, learning to distinguish gaming and gamification and learning the basics of gaming and gamification in the teaching process. Hands-on exercises for introducing gaming practices in the teaching and learning process and gamifying the existing syllabi.
Description: this 45 min session is aimed to help you transition your F2F teaching to hybrid and online teaching. Learn about synchronous and asynchronous modes of teaching and communication to structure and organize your class materials and methods for better delivery. Hands-on exercises for improving content delivery, class discussions and communications among instructor and students.
Remote participation through desktopsharing at http://scsuconnect.stcloudstate.edu/ims upon registration and specific request
Effective Presentations. Jan 28, 2-2:45PM. MC 205. attendees cap is 10
Keywords: presentations, PowerPoint, alternatives to PowerPoint, presentation design, presentation essentials, Prezi, SlideShare, LodeStar, Zentation, Zoho, Powtoon, Zaption, Thinglink, Haiku, Kahoot, Storify, EdPuzzle, PollDaddy, Evernote, Mammoth, SideVibe, Paddlet, Remind, Death by PowerPoint, visual literacy, media literacy, digital literacy, visuals
Description: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/01/07/effective-presentations/ . These four 45 minute sessions are aimed to introduce and orient faculty, staff and students to the opulence of alternatives to PowerPoint and revisit the basics of well-tailored presentation. Hands-on exercises for improving the structure and delivery of presentation as well as the choice of presentation tools.
Remote participation through desktopsharing at http://scsuconnect.stcloudstate.edu/ims upon registration and specific request
Death by PowerPoint. Feb 26, 10-10:45PM. MC 205. attendees cap is 10
Keywords: presentations, PowerPoint, alternatives to PowerPoint, presentation design, presentation essentials, Death by PowerPoint, visual literacy, media literacy, digital literacy, visuals.
Description: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2016/01/07/effective-presentations/ . This 45 minute session is aimed to introduce and orient faculty, staff and students to the basics of PowerPoint and revisit the basics of a well-tailored presentation. Hands-on exercises for improving the structure and delivery of presentation as well as the choice of presentation tools.
Contemplative Computing or Disconnect: How to Bring Balance in Your Life by Managing well Your Technology. Feb 17. 2-2:45PM. MC 205. attendees cap is 10
Description: this 45 min session introduces faculty, staff and students to the idea of regulating the use of technology in a meaningful way. Hands-on exercises and sharing good practices on balancing the use of technology in daily life.
Videos in the classroom: fast and easy. Jan 28, 10-10:45PM. MC 205. attendees cap is 5.
Keywords: video, video editing, video manipulation, visual literacy, digital literacy, MovieMaker, iMovie, Instagram, Vine, YouTube, Kaltura
Description: this 45 min session is an orientation to the resources available for delivery of visual materials in the classroom. Hands-on experience of different basics tools on different computer platforms.
Infographics: make your projects, presentations and research credible through presentable data. Feb 10, 2-2:45PM. March 29, 10-10:45AM, MC 205. attendees cap is 10
Keywords: Piktochart, Infogr, Visualy, statistics, visual literacy, digital literacy
Description: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2014/04/09/infographics-how-to-create-them/. This 45 min session is an orientation to the world of infographics. Short introduction to the basics of statistics and their importance in presenting a research and idea. Hands-on exercise using one of the 3 popular infographic tools.
In this rapid succession of examples, one can experience a showcase how to enhance students’ engagement by modernizing D2L experience through connection with social media. Bring your own examples and participate in a discussion, which aims finding the right tools for your class and field of study.
Audience: beginners to advanced
Prerequisite:
come with your own social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine
Outcomes:
By the end of this session, the participants will have an idea about peculiarity of each of the social media tools: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine
By the end of the session, the participants will be familiar with the integration of each of the social media tool into D2L
By the end of the session, the participants will be able to asses to what extent each particular tool fits their field of study
By the end of the session, the participants will be able to compare the pedagogical advantages and disadvantages of the social media tools compared to D2L
D2L and Twitter
microblogging of 140 characters is often viewed as limiting. However, it can be the ultimate test how well students understand the learning material: making someone sum up in 140 characters what they learned this particular week in their class can take a lot of rewriting.
D2L allows a widget on its main page, where students can view and tweet. Students also can view and tweet from their mobile devices.
Tweeting during class is becoming mainstream in K12, also called “backchanneling.” Harnessing peers help to understand a concept discussed in class can save both time and efforts on the instructors’ side
Twitter is “making your twitter.com timeline more immersive by uncropping photos, so you can experience and present them as they were meant to be viewed.” https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/12/13/improvements-in-social-media-tools/
D2L and Vine
Vine is a social media services, which provides the ability to share 7 sec videos. Vine is becoming more popular then Instagram (15 sec videos), with the simplicity to create short videos. Students can take sequence of short videos, which amount to 7 sec to reflect the main points of a project. E.g.: chemical reaction, biology dissection, progress of engineering planning, solving a math formula.
URL to the vine can be posted in the D2L discussion area for further collaborative effort or for peers’ and instructions evaluation
Vines are a click away from a FB group page or, with the right handle and hashtag, to a Twitter discussion
The bottom-line to evaluate if fitting your field of study is: can the content be narrated or is it much better if visualized. If the latter, Vine can be your salvation. How to Create Social Videos With Your Smartphonehttps://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/01/10/social-videos-with-your-smartphone/
Per SCSU IT disclaimer: MediaSpace (Kaltura) is a free, cloud-based video repository solution for campus that allows faculty and staff to upload and distribute video and audio content for academic or administrative purposes. Facilitators will discuss potential uses of MediaSpace for campus, demonst rate how to create Webcam and screen recordings, upload audio/video, and embed or link to MediaSpace content from D2L or a web site. YouTube is owned by Google and the integration, including statistics and analytics by Google are way beyond MediaSpace. The only selling point of MediaSpace is the FERPA requirement by MnSCU to host privacy data on a MnSCU owned server
I can cover this in 5-15 minutes, just let me know what you prefer
Integrating Facebook Groups
I will show a couple of groups that I have used
I can also come up with an “exercise” that participants can do, just let me know: (1) if you want me to and (2) if participants are suppose to have a Facebook account that they can log into during the session
Title
Engage your students: gaming and gamification in the learning process.
Outline
As part of the broader discussion, a short discussion segment to form and agree on definitions and terms regarding games and gamification. Another short segment to seek consensus if this SCSU campus is ready to departure on the path of gamifying education. After several examples, of how games are used in education and gamification techniques, a discussion on how gaming and gamification can be streamlined amidst shrinking budget and increasing workload. More details and information about gaming and gamification at: http://scsu.mn/1F008Re
Audience: beginners to advanced
Outcomes:
By the end of this session, the participants will have a working definitions on play, games, serious games, game-based learning, digital game-based learning, gaming, gamification and badges. (more at http://scsu.mn/1F008Re)
By the end of the session, the participants will be familiar with the possibilities for integration of games in the educational process and for gamification of the educational process.
By the end of the session, the participants will be able to asses to what extent games and gamification fit their field of study
Plan:
Introduce each other and share the reason and interest to attend this discussion; what are the expectations from this discussion
Your Brain on Video Game http://www.zaption.com/present/566b26d4cbda6b1c1c482aa6
(use presenter, ask for mobile devices)
Work on the definitions: play, games, serious games, game-based learning, gaming, gamification and badges
Title
Present and be presented: engage your students with modern ways to share information
Outline
Two trends plague education: the swamp of PowerPoint presentations and the lack of visual literacy. In this rapid succession of examples, one can experience a showcase of various cloud-based tools, which brings visual presentations way beyond PowerPoint and align with the Millennials demand for current social interaction. A discussion on how relevant these tools are to various disciplines and details on improving the interaction among instructors and students during the presentation. Ongoing discussion about design as part of visual literacy and the difference between blended learning and technology integration.
Audience: beginners to advanced
Outcomes:
By the end of this session, the participants will have understand the movement “Death by PowerPoint” and will understand the advantage of cloud-based presentation tools to MS PowerPoint
By the end of the session, the participants will be familiar with several tools, which successfully replace PowerPoint and well beyond.
By the end of the session, the participants will be able to asses to what extent games and gamification fit their field of study
By the end of the session, the participants will be able to discriminate between technology integration and blended learning.
Plan:
Introduce each other and share the reason and interest to attend this discussion; what are the expectations from this discussion
EdPuzzle https://edpuzzle.com/ https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2015/02/19/edpuzzle-flipped-lessons/
crops the video so one can watch only a segment. Does not make much sense, since YouTube gives an URL to the reference point, but it allows instructor’s audio feedback. It is still too much “instructor’s proprietary” and not so much students-engaging as Zaption Presenter and Kahoot.
Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals.
What Gamification is not:
Gamification is not digital game-based learning (DGBL); it does not allow students to play digital games to apply/identify concepts, nor does it allow students to create games to demonstrate comprehension. Unlike DGBL, gamification does not require the use of virtual environments or elaborate tech-based systems.
Engage students through creative course design.
Learn how to strategically implement game-based design principles that can help you better engage students in a more interactive approach to education. Using gamification in your courses does not have to be difficult nor does it have to be comprehensive. We will discuss a range of different approaches that you can implement immediately to help make assignments more competitive, grading scales more interactive, and content more compelling.