Minecraft As A Teaching Tool: A Statistical Study of Teachers' Experience Using Minecraft In The Classroom

by David Smeaton

Computer games have become a ubiquitous part of modern life. Globally, 3 billion hours a week are spent playing computer games. Every day 28 million people harvest crops in FarmVille. There are more people with FarmVille accounts than with twitter accounts. The new ‘gaming culture’ centres around the use of a system of motivational tools called gamification. Gamification, the use of game design elements in non-gaming contexts, has emerged as a potentially powerful methodology for use in educational spaces.

This educational paper is an exploration of the growing use of gaming in classrooms. The essay focuses on Minecraft and how teachers find it useful for their classroom practice. Minecraft is a gaming phenomenon that has taken the world by storm. Not only have children and adults become addicted to this simple, open-world game, but teachers too have found enormous benefit from incorporating Minecraft into their classroom as a motivational and pedagogical tool.

This paper takes a statistical approach to reviewing the way teachers currently incorporate Minecraft into their classrooms. The outcome is highly positive, with a suggestion that further, deeper exploration of the topic would be beneficial.

26 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2017