Is this a joke...?

[noteworthynerd]

They have college courses on Starcraft, they have college courses on the Jersey Shore; why not Minecraft?

[Kashydan]

you are aware that minecraft is an awesome and simple solution to teach children/young students basics of conductor elements, signal delay schematics and just about everything in basic electronics?
and that it's extremely creativity-unlocking kinda speaks for itself
and also a self-organized "classroom"-server unlocks childrens potential to teach each other basic things, which further manifests their own knowledge about a topic.
the write-notes-on-the-wall-feature in there is kinda powerful, because, just imagine for a second, kids could have FUN learning, and do it on their own
:P

[Wondercrab]

This sounds like an absolutely fantastic idea. I can see Minecraft having a lot of applications for teaching areas of mathematics, physics, design, and creative thinking as a skill in general.

I'm disappointed to see some people writing it off because "it's a game" though. That mindset of thinking games (or in fact, entertainments in general) are some sort of polar opposite to education is incredibly shortsighted. The most important skill a teacher can have is getting their pupils engaged with the material at hand, and a gaming medium adapted to that material is definitely one of the most promising and exciting methods to get a modern generation interested in ideas and concepts, and allowing them to develop skills that might otherwise have just been explained over another dull series of chapters in a textbook.

[Deleted]

Future architecture education, now in pixels!

[Orange Joe]

Learning isn't supposed to be fun. It's learning. Things you -have- to do are never fun: work, school, chores, sleep (sleep is great but it's not exactly "fun"), exercise etc.

this is very flawed and the reason education is taking a shit

who said it can't be fun? can't have fun at work? news to me i have fun all the time i make sure to find ways to have fun at work

a happy employee is a productive employee

Killing zombies for no reason. Hacking the game because everyone is too lazy to actually mine. Etc, it is good as it is bad.

peaceful mode??? and really you think they are going to hack the game they are playing in class with a teacher??? get real and grow up.....

[Landin55]

"peaceful mode??? and really you think they are going to hack the game they are playing in class with a teacher??? get real and grow up....."
lol you hurt or something? As a grown up I think this is stupid, as a kid I will hack the shit out of this. Have you been to a computer class? We play games and hack shit all the time.
Oh and btw your sig totally blows your cover of being non-biased >.>

[Vaelkyri]

"peaceful mode??? and really you think they are going to hack the game they are playing in class with a teacher??? get real and grow up....."
lol you hurt or something? As a grown up I think this is stupid, as a kid I will hack the shit out of this. Have you been to a computer class? We play games and hack shit all the time.
Oh and btw your sig totally blows your cover of being non-biased >.>

So many contradictory things in your post...

[Grizzly Willy]

"peaceful mode??? and really you think they are going to hack the game they are playing in class with a teacher??? get real and grow up....."
lol you hurt or something? As a grown up I think this is stupid, as a kid I will hack the shit out of this. Have you been to a computer class? We play games and hack shit all the time.
Oh and btw your sig totally blows your cover of being non-biased >.>

I'm sorry, but saying "As a grown up" and then immediately following that up with "I [would] hack the shit out of this" really makes me think your opinion is not worth taking seriously. Although I suppose one thing I'm learning as I'm entering adulthood is that not all adults live up to this ideal I have of the mature and well though-out individual.

Back on topic, though, I feel that video games can be a great way of bringing education to a more engaging level. To the comment that said that learning can't be fun, I have to disagree. Learning to play the cello, reading great literature, hell, even math have all been extremely enjoyable to me. To say that we're not allowed to have fun while learning is to enforce your preconcieved notions of what you believe learning should entail, and is to diminish any possibility of deriving new and more effective forms of education just because you said no.

So yes, Minecraft.edu is a great idea, and you are doing a huge disservice to the intellectual community and educational system to merely laugh at it and things like it.

[Deleted]

One word. Facepalm.

[Orange Joe]

One word. Facepalm.

yup exactly what i am doing while i read your post.......

[Profyrion]

Learning isn't supposed to be fun. It's learning. Things you -have- to do are never fun: work, school, chores, sleep (sleep is great but it's not exactly "fun"), exercise etc.

Define "fun".

Learning absolutely can be fun. The mind is most receptive to new ideas when it's consciously engaged.

[Grizzly Willy]

One word. Facepalm.

Care to explain why you feel so negatively about this? I would be happy to provide a rebuttal.

[Deleted]

It's like second graders. Who cares.

[reverendball]

depending on how old you are, you probably unknowingly learnt some Geography by playing the classic:
"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"

so i see nothing wrong with using games for educational purposes

[Ainyan]

A lot of different games are used in the classroom, including WoW. Games teach hand/eye coordination, problem solving, logic development, and spacial orientation. Multi-player games teach leadership and team-building. MMOs teach economics and social skills.

I mean, doesn't anyone else remember playing Oregon Trail and Number Munchers when you were a kid, in school, on that Apple IIe? And those were simple logic and skill games. Yeah. Imagine what a clever teacher can do with today's game market.

[coldfiredragon]

part of me is glad to see minecraft making it into classrooms... But most of me is trying desperately to find a reason for teachers to be using this as an education tool.

It is a good starting place for game design calsses. It is easy to mod by adding aditional classes, from a basically blank slate. It is a good tool for teaching things like that.

[malkara]

The possibilities are endless, really. Okay, I would probably use the redstone stuff for more advanced stuff, but as already noted you can mod the game to add an endless amount of school-related subject-objects.

[Santti]

That doesn't seem very productive thing to do in a classroom to be honest. I can only see it fit in art classes, if that.

[Orange Joe]

This is why

That doesn't seem very productive thing to do in a classroom to be honest. I can only see it fit in art classes, if that.

i think that video is the best possible reply for you

[Varyk]

wtf is minecraft? (seriously) I've heard of it but have never actually seen the game nor do I know anyone that plays it.