Regular reports hit my radar of the amazing work being undertaken by global kids, as they become knowledge-able, as well as knowledgeable in their gaming interactions. Many kids, supported by knowledgeable elders (parents and peers) are engaging in this amazing platform. Many teachers are also supporting their students to do amazing things.
Just look at this gorgeous build in Minecraft – Babylon in a very new world of our kids futures. By amazing – I don’t just mean building in a gaming environment! I mean engaging in literacy and communication; in digital citizenship and story telling; and above all creativity and global cultures. But it takes dedication on the part of the adults to nuture students this way.
Minecraft in education is growing phenomenon – and people are jumping on board to see how they can integrate Minecraft into the learning cultures of their schools. To be honest – Minecraft is also becoming a minefield of its very own in the ‘grown up world’ (consultant warning) – and therefore making it critically important that we connect with quality users with grounded experience in best practices in Minecraft rather than with consultants.
Project Mist
Project Mist, from Donelle Batty, is one of my favourite Australian leaders – doing with her kids daily that we could only wish for all our kids. Donelle has been running Project M.I.S.T (Minecraft In School Transforming education) for what seems like eons now. Her students have very powerful learning experiences. GMods Experience in Minecraft tells it all!
My experience in Minecraft this year was spectacular; the team work, the efforts, the creativity gained and witnessed was truly outstanding. In the class I got to socialize with kids that have the same interests I have, building friendships throughout the year. Cooperation was the biggest highlight; When there was ridiculous amounts of mobs and high death count, we took shelter and shared supplies. When someone needed help building or creating something it always felt good to teach them how to do so. I’ve also learnt more about the importance of my appearance on-line and how I present myself to the people of the world wide web, presentation is key and your first impression is everything. If you are acting like a tool on the internet people will see you once and think: “Wow, that person seems stupid and rude” And that would be the last time they visit your page/ sever/ profile.
Recently, I followed a tweet to see what Donelle wrote about the 2014 launch of #ProjectMIST.
2014 #ProjectMIST is about to start, it takes a dedicated community to do this! http://t.co/HwGMrUlHI5 #minecraft @natbott42
— Donelle Batty (@dbatty1) March 21, 2014
She reminded us all that Minecraft is a collaborative experience, as is the various stages of learning involved in gaining Minecraft experience. Donelle is without a doubt a global leader, and will be away from her hometown in Tasmania on her Hardie Fellow (Info re Hardie Fellowship and recipients for 2013-14).
Donelle also reminded me of the fantastic work done by Jo Kay who is an amazing colleague I have worked with closely over the years on various projects. Jo currently builds and supports our work in the Master of Education (Knowledge Networks and Digital Innovation) degree here at CSU. We don’t use the normal LMS, but have developed our own for the degree for now.
So in much the same way Donelle explains:
We are really lucky at ProjectMIST as we have one person who has been with us from the start and is always there, even at 12:04am. At this time of the day I am in bed asleep and the computer is asleep too, but Jo Kay is wide awake supporting the students where I can’t. Her support is extremely appreciated by the students and they demonstrate this through building replicas of her avatar on their own servers, one young man did this just the other night when she helped him out after he locked himself out of his server. This student has now just been accepted onto Massively @ Jokaydia Minecraft Guild and he is really excited to be able to build, learn and explore with others from all parts of the world.
If you are an educator, a parent, or just someone who wants to give kids a chance at Minecraft I recommend you visit Massively @ Jokaydia.
The Massively @ jokaydia Guild Website – a community supported by jokaydia.com – provides kids and parents with games-based spaces to learn, collaborate and play!
The project is designed for kids aged 4-16yrs who are interested in gaining digital media skills, exploring their creativity and developing online social skills. We are currently using the video game Minecraft to support a safe, whitelisted server and a range of activities which encourage kids to choose their own playful learning pathways and adventures.
You can’t do better than that! Babylon was a build created by just one of those students!
You will find Donelle on Twitter @dbatty1 and Jo at @JoKay. You’ll also find student Nat, from the TedEX video below @natbott42
Image: cc licensed ( BY NC SA ) flickr photo shared by Jo Kay
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judyoconnell.com 
I found this so interesting Judy, as I have been helping my minecraft-loving 7 year old son to find information on ‘how to build a rocket in minecraft’ and many other projects today. He knows how to search for this on YouTube, however, it is much better to hear about Jokaydia. He will love that. It was also inspiring to read about the teacher’s experience of using minecraft with her class. Thanks for your article.
Jane Schmude
(Current student in ETL523)