Minecraft as an educational tool?

I think it's a pretty good idea, Minecraft inspires creativity, ingenuity, and it can even go as far as to teach work ethic, all in a form they can understand and, of course, enjoy for as long as they're allowed to indulge in it. But I don't think it's educational properties are limited to children, I think anyone can learn a few things from it, even without mods.

 

Minecraft is kind of like digital Legos, except with survival. It can give kids those childhood memories while helping develop spatial skills, as well as collaboration and competition if playing with others. I definitely wish Minecraft was used as an educational game when I was younger ^^

 

Honestly, I don't think that it'd make that good of an educational tool keeping in mind the fact that it's practically a fantasy game with almost no elements from reality, but even though it doesn't have that many elements from reality it still could teach the younger generation a thing or two.
I genuinely don't think that "Steve the Slaughterer of Animals" here is that good of a role model.

 

It's a block-by-block building world. Give them creative mode and see what they some up with, or tell them to build something from memory. No one said they had to play survival mode or fight anything.

 

Minecraft could certainly increase spatial reasoning. Object awareness and most definitely creativity.
Survival mode could give them the basics to survive. Imagine if the kid from hatchet had to play on survival mode I think he would be a little bit more equipped if it were to come to it.

 

I think it could absolutely be used to help children learn. It would open up their minds to build things they may never have thought of. Most creative children who are very imaginative grow up to be very smart and talented individuals.

 

I don't really think that would necessarily be considered educational, in that specific situation Minecraft could be used to simply sharpen their creativity but it wouldn't really teach them anything in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, though. I think it'd be a great idea to allow them to simply let their imagination run wild, but I don't find that very educational.

 

I agree. It's really just a video game that has some lego elements to it. I think if you just gave a kid a box of legos he/she would be just as well off and not be addicted to a sedentary lifestyle of video games.

 

I've heard that a primary school teacher actually uses it to teach his pupils! It was all over the news a couple years ago. I sadly can't find a link to it at the moment. But yes, Minecraft can definitely be used for educational purposes and it IS used to teach children.

 

I guess it has some educational elements, but I think the time spent could be used more effectively via other methods.

 

I agree that Minecraft can be used to help stimulate creativity. It might help kids to find themselves and express their own imaginations.

 

It empowers creativity and imagination which some kids lack. When i was younger, we had to play Neopets which was quite strange back then but he was trying to teach us financial ideas through saving the points we earned in Neopets while having fun at the same time. I'd say it would be a great idea to let Minecraft become a educational tool so that we can develop more open minded kids with creative ideas.

 

Yeah that's probably a good idea since you can do a lot with Minecraft now. With all the mods and stuff it's easy to make something that would really serve as an educational tool

 

Yup, I think it's a great idea to use it as an educational tool. For one, it will certainly keep the students interested because it's a game. Minecraft can also teach children to use console commands via mods.

 

Well you can pretty much do anything with Minecraft now what with all the mods and stuff so I think you can really make a really good educational tool out of it. I just don't know how you can manage to do it but I'm guessing it's bound to be great.

 

Redstone and design could definitely be used in an educative manner.

 

I think you could use Minecraft as educational device on different levels even. For one part you could use it as a tool of creativity for young children aswell as a form of art. Look at all the pixel art that you can create, endless possibilities. I guess you could even implement some kind of mod for adventure mode to show people around in some themed hall that acts like a virtual museum and you can play videos or voice messages for more informations. You could lead them through it and afterwards they could go around and check out more about the stuff that they found most interesting. On the other hand there is always the stuff that comes with the redstone. This could even be used at college level, as you can even build some decently complex stuff in there.

 

It already is being used as a tool in several schools, I read a news article about it. Hmm... *digs through internet*
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/27942155 - I couldn't find it anywhere else so enjoy listening to a childrens news program! ^^;;

 

I've always learned that education was merely used as a tool to prepare us for the work force. I can't really see Minecraft lending much to getting a good job.

I could be wrong, however I haven't seen any studies showing that Minecraft could help develop the ol' noggin.