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Technology in the Classroom - From an 8th Grade Student

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Technology in the Classroom - From an 8th Grade Student

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Technology in the classroom | Ethan Dickens | TEDxPascoCountySchoolsED

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How Can Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom? | Ask the Expert with Professor Karen Hollebrands

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This article talks about how teachers are using the popular game Minecraft in the classroom

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Disclosure: Your support helps keep the site running! We earn a referral fee for some of the services we recommend on this page. Learn more

You may know that Minecraft is popular with gamers, but did you know it's also becoming trendy in the classroom?

Gamification and video games as a learning tool have been a hot topic of research for the past few years, and while Minecraft was originally designed as just a game, it turns out that the flexible, sandbox nature of the game makes it a perfect tool for teachers of any subject.

What Is Minecraft?

In Minecraft, players can mine and craft 3D building blocks of different materials within a generated world of varying terrain. It's a sandbox game, meaning there is no overall quest or plot - players decide what they want to build and do.

MinecraftEDU

From the beginning, Minecraft was used by creative teachers as a tool in the classroom to bring historical buildings to life, encourage students to work together on group projects within Minecraft, etc.

In 2016, Microsoft released a version of Minecraft specifically for educators called Minecraft: Education Edition or MinecraftEDU for short.

The basic core of the game is the same, but the education version adds extra features. Students can download the game at home without having to pay for their own version of the game, and they can take photos within the game and share them with other students.

Resources

If you're ready to start using Minecraft in the classroom, here are all the resources you need to get you started.

Overviews

New to Minecraft? Here are some introductions and overviews so you can see if it's something you can put to use in your classroom.

Research

Is Minecraft actually an effective tool for teaching? Find out what the experts have discovered.

Tutorials

If you're ready to get started, here are some beginner tutorials for you to learn how to play.

MinecraftEDU Wiki: a great place to get started learning about MinecraftEDU, from installation to lesson plans.

Minecraft Education Edition Resources: check out these tutorials for complete beginners to get started playing the game, and then put them in action with lesson plans grouped by age.

MinecraftEDU Controls (PDF): a basic 1-page instruction sheet on keyboard and mouse controls in MinecraftEDU.

Videos

To see how MinecraftEDU looks in action, watch these video tutorials.

Lesson Plans

Now that you know how to play, here's how you can apply your new skills to teach children in the classroom.

Mods

Tired of the basics - or need something special to bring your lesson to life? With mods, anything is possible.

qCraft: a mod that brings the principles of quantum physics to the world of Minecraft.

Galacticraft: a mod that allows you to explore the solar system in your own spaceship.

Custom NPCs: add custom characters to make your world more interactive.

Blogs

The Minecraft Teacher: all about computer teacher Joel Levin's experiences in using Minecraft in the classroom.

MinecraftEDU Elfie: this blog is by a secondary school teacher in Victoria who is interested in leveraging technology to engage and educate students.

Forums

Minecraft Teachers Google Group: a Google Group dedicated to helping teachers use Minecraft to facilitate learning. A great resource for materials and discussion.

Conclusion

While Minecraft seems like a simple game at first glance, its simplicity makes it ideal for using in countless creative ways to supplement your students' learning. Get started with the tutorials and lesson plans above, and your students will be more immersed in learning than ever.

Further Reading and Resources

We have more guides, tutorials, and infographics related to technology and learning:

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Minecraft In Education - Here's Why It's Becoming Trendy In The Classroom - WhoIsHostingThis.com

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Disclosure: Your support helps keep the site running! We earn a referral fee for some of the services we recommend on this page. Learn more You may know that Minecraft is popular with gamers, but did you know it's also becoming trendy in the classroom?

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Cell-ebrating Science Lesson Plan

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You can view my website to review other ways I integrate technology into my classroom.

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Here is a link to the Padlet students used for our Cell-ebrating Science lesson.

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Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Middle School

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Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Middle School

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The use of technology is a pivotal factor in today's classrooms. Students are expected to proficiently access, analyze, and create using digital tools, even at the middle school level. Information, apps, and tools are everywhere-it is truly unbelievable how much digital information is being presented to students in and out of the classroom. For digital instruction to be effective, however, it must be planned for and utilized with specific and deliberate purposes. Technology for technology's sake is not beneficial to student learning. Instead, technology should be integrated as a means to engage, enrich, and extend learning objectives for students on a regular basis. So, how can this be accomplished in middle school?

By middle school, students have been introduced to plenty of educational digital forums. Middle school educators must continue to teach students how to be digitally responsible. Parents and teachers are well-aware of the fact that adolescents are connected to all things digital on a grand scale. The unavoidable truth that comes with digital technology use in classrooms is the fact that students become immediately immersed in a world with few boundaries. The impulsive and somewhat self-absorbed mindset that comes with the adolescent years also presents the issue of cyberbullying, which has become a simply newer and easier way to hurt peers. Luckily, schools have made it relatively easy for teachers to monitor what students send, copy, post, or type. In addition, technologies such as Lanschool allow teachers to monitor exactly what each student's screen looks like, and close it out if need be. Teachers also have the option to screenshot a student's screen in order to share a concerning incident with parents.
Managing Digital Footprints
Instructing students about their digital footprints is also important in middle school. Not only are students receiving information at rapid rates, but their own digital output is of major concern , as well. A digital footprint is composed of a person's online actions and behavior. M iddle school students must be taught that anything that we post on the web is permanent-digital footprints will never vanish. As many of us know, it is typical of adolescents to dismiss the concept of the far-off future. However, middle school is the opportune time to discuss the likelihood of severe consequences after leaving a negative digital footprint for someone else to stumble across, even years later.
Resources
Having successfully prepared middle schoolers with the knowledge of safety and security in the digital realm, teachers are then able to utilize technologies to enhance learning like never before. Free resources like instagrok.com, Padlet, Powtoons, and Adobe Spark allow students to research and create in a more interactive and creative way. Using Google classroom as the starting point for assignments and lessons incorporating technology, students are able to go out into the digital world and bring back information and material at an alarming rate. The idea of cooperative learning, student choice, technological creativity, and collaborative synthesis are all possible when using forums such as Google classroom to gather students' ideas and creations.

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Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Middle School - Learning Essentials

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The use of technology is a pivotal factor in today's classrooms. Students are expected to proficiently access, analyze, and create using digital tools, even at the middle school level. Information, apps, and tools are everywhere-it is truly unbelievable how much digital information is being presented to students in and out of the classroom.

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These are app evaluations of app students can use both inside and outside of the classroom