AstronoMine World in Minecraft
AstronoMine World in Minecraft
Minecraft is already in use as an educational tool for very different topics all over the world. It has been used for educational purposes including, language and literacy, digital storytelling, social skills, informatics, chemistry, ecology, geology, biology, physics, geography, arts, history, etc. (Nebel, Schneider & Rey, 2016). Minecraft can be used for teaching concepts relevant to the physical world due to its nature that is created to be similar to of real-world environment. The worlds’ environment can look like dessert, forest, ocean, and any other area, and this can be an important factor for creating astronomy concepts, such as the replication of different planets. The current result comprises a dedicated Minecraft world that will introduce many topics of astronomy in students.
The first objective of this WP is to help teachers capitalize on an already existing game that is very popular among children to introduce astronomy in their classrooms. This will be achieved from the production of the results which comprises a complete package of challenges, instructional material and lesson plans which can be easily used by any teacher even without previous experience in such concepts.
The second objective of the WP is to promote a hands-on learning experience that will help students gain new knowledge and skills. The Minecraft world can benefit traditional teaching methods since students will be engaged with a game that they already use, and as such it will grab their attention and support them in developing several skills such as creativity, collaboration, etc.
The second objective of the WP is to promote a hands-on learning experience that will help students gain new knowledge and skills. The Minecraft world can benefit traditional teaching methods since students will be engaged with a game that they already use, and as such it will grab their attention and support them in developing several skills such as creativity, collaboration, etc.
The third and final objective is the creation of a free Gamified Learning Environment to permit use in the class, at home and in distant learning. It is envisaged that the Minecraft world will be available in the Science section of the Library of Minecraft education Edition (www.education.minecraft.net/class-resources/science-subject
All these objectives contribute to the main objectives of the project which are: -Promote astronomy in schools through game-based learning
-Improve the quality of education in the fields of STEM
-Enhance teachers’ digital skills
As already explained the Minecraft world will be developed along with lessons plans that will assist teachers in integrating it into their course and such as teachers will use a gamified learning to inform the pupils about astronomy while at the same time they will improve their digital skills. Through the world concepts connected to STEM learning such as gravity, mass, nuclear reaction, coding, algorithms, etc will be introduced, to engage students in these concepts and improve the quality of STEM education.