Minecraft Edu (FYI)
MINECRAFT IN VERMONT PANEL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExXwHkXqFtI
Transcript of chat: https://todaysmeet.com/vtminecraft/transcript
THESE POSTINGS are from SCHOOL-IT (Vermont Public Schools)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Drew Blanchard <dblanchard@wsdschools.org>
Date: Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 11:31 AM
Subject: [SCHOOL-IT] video/project contests?
We're looking for an "authentic" audience to show some interesting projects which emerged recently in a science class, including an awesome recreation and demo of the solar system - built in Minecraft. In the past, I've helped students enter contests which showcased their videos or other projects, and, over the years, a few have won prizes this way. Anyone have suggestions for current, reputable contests in which students can showcase their technological/scientific/video game/video talents this way? This may be a way to motivate other students, too.
Drew
From: Russell Gregory <rgregory@fnwsu.org
Date: Mon, Feb 11, 2013 at 11:34 AM
Subject: Re: [SCHOOL-IT] video/project contests?
I have two 6th grade students about to start using Minecraft for a school project, I'd love to see the solar system build if possible. :)
Rusti
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Sally Bisaccio sbisaccio@svsu.org via list.uvm.edu on 2/27/2013 wrote:
Hi, All,
We are looking to start MinecraftEDU as an after school program at Mt. Anthony Union Middle School. I noticed several folks mentioned Minecraft a few weeks ago and thought perhaps anyone who uses it with students might be able to help answer a few questions:
1. Is anyone in VT run the MineCraftedu mod? And can we connect (either instructors or students) to share ideas?
2. Are you running this as an after school program? If so, how many afternoons a week do you run it?
3. Do you allow students to access the server from home?
4. How did you set up the accounts? Generic student accounts? If so, how did you keep students from sharing the passwords, especially if they are accessing the server from home?
5. If it's a school account being used from home, how are you monitoring activity?
6. Can kids use their own MC account on the edu mod?
It seems the more we work with the idea and the program, the more questions we have. Any help you can give us would be great!
Thanks so much,
Sally
Bram Moreinis replied:
Is anyone in VT run the MineCraftedu mod? And can we connect (either instructors or students) to share ideas?
As might be expected in a middle school, we have a number of students who love Minecraft, five of whom recently did some research to find various ways it's being used in education. I've attached the text from one.
(I was surprised to see that students can log in and play Minecraft from machines in the school (in the old days you needed a special downloaded application, but now there's both single- and multi- player right from a browser - http://getminecraftforfree.org/play-minecraft-online/).
Programs like Minecraft can really bring out an interest in computer-based creativity and even entry-level programming concepts, as my own 10 year old has significantly modified the server running in our home and is now working on a project with his schoolmates in recreating his actual school within the program!
Minecraft is renowned as taking a VERY long time to make things with, even as it is very engaging for those students who have that time. Scratch goes faster to make cool things and is far more flexible, and Python teaches coding more effectively. But for some applications, like Middle Ages simulations, Minecraft suggests itself, if it could be done efficiently and safely. That's a big if!
One of my teachers is doing a Middle Ages simulation with seventh grade, and we ALMOST used Minecraft to build the village the students would be inhabiting in their roles, but neither he nor I felt comfortable enough with the authoring and the time investment. What we ARE running with (which uses student Google sites based on templates and various other online interactions) would look lovely in Minecraft.
My fantasy would be if someone created a server pre-configured with various instances of a Medieval town and user accounts for the various roles required for each town, so that new schools could each have their own instance to go through the project, and then, at the end, have an online Medieval Fair where students from different schools encountered each other in role, perhaps having Guild meetings, etc....but the first step would be a secure and maintained server. I have a Dell Poweredge that I'd happily donate to the cause...but Matt has strongly advocated against hosting a server within a school, so I don't think we're going to be assigning any IP addresses to it here.
Beyond that, I think it would be useful, for any schools that are employing Minecraft to address common core standards, to do time studies and evaluations: how much time is required to develop the activity, and how much time to run it, and was that investment parlayed into deeper and more engagement with the actual learning standards, not just with Minecraft. My sense is that this will be a very difficult case to make, AND that if anyone CAN make such a case, we'd have many schools willing to participate in such projects...perhaps via LNV/CILC.
- Bram
THESE POSTINGS are from a DIFFERENT LIST (ISED-L - Private Schools)
On 3/12/13 6:15 PM, "Renee Ramig" <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> wrote: > >I went to a session on video games in the classroom yesterday. I shared > >it with my teachers, and now I have a few interested in Minecraft. > > > >Other than kids coming in and playing it in the lab and on their iPads, I > >know nothing about Minecraft. I have tried to read about it online, but > >it seems like a foreign world. > > > >So some questions - > > > >I notice the software cost money? Is this per computer or per user? > >Can you do much of anything with the iPad version? > >How do you even start to build a world? To build a character? > >How do you create a world that only people you invite can join? > > > >My 4th grade is thinking of doing it for gold rush and my MS history > >teacher for a 6th grade 1450 unit (where there are five different > >civilizations covered, so each group would be creating their own virtual > >world based on their civilization). > > > >I would love to support the teachers in implementing this into their > >classes, but I don't even know how to start. Any pointers on where to > >begin, I would love it. > > > >Thanks, Renee > >
> ----------------
> This year, as our first foray with the program, 3 5th graders requested to > use it to create their Weslandia inspired civilization project. We host an > EDU server for those 3 students. I purchased licenses for them, as well, > but don't know if they have tried logging in from home. > > I know 4th graders are playing at home (a parent hosts a server for them). > Know nothing more than what I have learned from watching. > > Think it is an interesting tool -- the kids are definitely motivated by > the program. Not entirely sure of the time vs. curricular value. While > students are engaged and learning coordinates and resource management, it > seems that sometimes the amount of time spent vs. the process (or even the > actual product) don't match up. > > Keeping an open mind and exploring ways to provide this as an option for > projects > ---------------- > Jayme Johnson > Director of Academic Technology, Village School > http://www.village-school.org > >
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:46:25 -0400 From: John Charney <charneyj@winchesterthurston.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft We ran a very successful Middle School Mincraft elective last year taught by students. It was very powerful having students running the class. I am more than willing to talk off-line as needed. John Charney Director of Technology Winchester Thurston School charneyj@winchsterthurston.org -- John P. Charney Director of Technology Winchester Thurston School 412.578.3757 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:53:34 -0700 From: Devin Wolfe <dwolfe@NUEVASCHOOL.ORG> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft Hi Renee, I've been thinking a lot about Minecraft and how to build a lesson incorporating it. I knew very little about MC until I tried the Pocket Edition version for the iPad over Winter Break (I knew had downloaded it for my son and got hooked while recuperating from an illness!). I really didn't get the appeal for the longest time—the graphics look straight out of Atari circa 1984—but the appeal lies in being able to transform this "sandbox" world by collecting resources, building structures, and collaborating with others in the multiplayer version (plus you have to battle zombies and other monsters at night in "survival mode"). To answer some of your questions first: 1. There is a free version with limited capability, but the full version costs (MC Pocket Edition is about $6) 2. The iPad version is Pocket Edition. It is creative and survival mode like the computer version, but fewer types of resources and tool choices. 3. The world is 256 x 256 blocks of different materials, and you have to collect resources and build shelter. There is no character to build, but you can customize the "skin" of the avatar Stevie using mods to the game. 4. In Pocket Edition (and I believe in classic) you can designate a preference in settings to "make server visible." Other players on your network can than see games to join by clicking on "join game" rather than "start game." I will be downloading the classic version of the game this week and trying it out. I'd like to develop a lesson using Minecraft, but I'm not sure yet what form it will take. Best, Devin ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:03:40 -0700 From: Fred Jaravata <fred.jaravata@SACREDSF.ORG> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft Renee, The license is for per computer. We have a license for 25 for around $335 + the MinecraftEdu software extension for $41 (teacher control of environment and limit student building powers) We do not use the iPad version as we wanted to use our own local server where I our students interact only with each other during designated times. The teacher can create a world map by directly building everything in creative mode (teacher) but is time consuming. A free world map creator helps creat big or small worlds so much faster. We use WORLD PAINTER. Students once logged in, are given a character. They are limited to what we give them. There are mods where they can use costumes/skins. In MinecraftEDU you can create a server and give that IP address to your students to join. We have a lot of info on this and I'll add more soon. Typing on my iphone is a little too much :). Please check out moorecraft.wikispaces.com for the current ancient Egypt project. Ancient Greece is next! Fred Sent from my mobile phone. Excuse my brevity and any typos. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 19:06:37 -0700 From: Fred Jaravata <fred.jaravata@SACREDSF.ORG> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft I can invite you on our Minecraft server and act in spectator mode and see what our students are doing in real time so you can get a feel for it. Heck you can even build during that time! Fred Sent from my mobile phone. Excuse my brevity and any typos. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:39:21 +0000 From: Mark Crotty <mcrotty@stjohnsschool.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft Jonathan Martin just blogged, wonderfully as always, about Minecraft: http://21k12blog.net/2013/03/12/minecraft-for-learning-now-is-the-time/. Mark Crotty Head of School St. John's Episcopal School 848 Harter Rd Dallas, TX 75218 214-328-9131 x113 Blog: http://www.tokeepthingswhole.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:34:54 -0400 From: Bob Irving <irvingb@LANCASTERCOUNTRYDAY.ORG> Subject: Re: Minecraft I'm starting a Minecraft Club in our middle school this trimester. We're going to use MinecraftEdu. We're "launching" on Friday and already have a huge response from kids who want to do it. Bob Irving Lancaster Country Day School @birv2 www.bob-irving.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:48:22 -0400 From: Sarah Ludwig <sludwig@hamdenhall.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft I also have a Minecraft club with our middle school and and happy to share anything I can about it! Sarah Ludwig Library Department Chair Academic Technology Coordinator Hamden Hall Country Day School A forum for independent school educators <ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> writes: >I'm starting a Minecraft Club in our middle school this trimester. We're >going to use MinecraftEdu. We're "launching" on Friday and already have a >huge response from kids who want to do it. > >Bob Irving >Lancaster Country Day School >@birv2 >www.bob-irving.com > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:26:07 +0000 From: Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft Thanks for all the responses to Minecraft. I have learned a lot in under 12 hours :) Please keep them coming. Questions related to the server & software - It sounds like most of you are hosting your own server. What are you using for a server (a Windows server, a Windows client machine, Mac Server, Mac Client, etc.) Have you set the server up just for internal (at school) access or for use outside of school too? If outside of school, is it just as simple as opening a specific port? If you open it up outside, is there a way to limit who has access to it, as well as who has access to specific projects / worlds kids are working on? For example, if my teacher wanted only students 1-5 to be working on world 1, is there a way to limit that. (I realize the power of Minecraft is the collaboration, but also looking at supporting teachers that are trying to figure out how to use this in their classrooms.) Still a little confused on the licensing. It sounds like I am essentially buying 25 licenses through the EDU site. If I have kids with their own Minecraft accounts, can they use those accounts to access our school worlds? Once you have a license, can I install the Java applet on any machine the students are using and they would just log in with their account? Or, am I limited to both 25 physical computers? Have any of you used the iOS (iPad) version? I know most of my MS kids have this on their iPad already. I know it is referred to as the "pocket" version, which indicates to me it is limited. Just wondering how limited. THANKS Thanks to all! [ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=128874 ] Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license. RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:36:56 -0400 From: Jesse Robinson <jrobinson@thesienaschool.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft Hi Renee, I started researching as soon as this thread started. In regards to licensing you can create any package you want. In order to use it in the classroom you need to purchase a regular minecraft license ($18 on the edu site) as well as an edu license ($41 on the edu site). You can install the edu license on as many machines you want as long as they already have minecraft installed on them. You can also give your students a copy of the edu license to install on their own computer at home which will allow them to access your 'sanboxed' minecraft server at school. So if you wanted to start with a lab of 10 computers you would need to buy 10 minecraft licenses at $18 each and one edu license at $41. Hope that makes sense. Regards, Jesse ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:46:59 +0000 From: Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft So still a little confused....sorry.... Let's say I have 20 students in class A and 20 student in class B. They will be sharing the same 20 computers. When they are working in Minecraft, I want each student to have their own unique login, so I can tell who is working where. Do I need to then buy 20 licenses or 40 licenses? Now lets say a student wants to use that same account at home. Do I have to buy a license for them to use it at home? So my confusion is: Are the licenses for the accounts or for the computers? So if I make an account called rramig - do I buy ONE license for this account that I can then use on any computer (so that the license is for the account)? Or can I use this on computer A along with other users who are using their personal accounts with one license (so the license is for the computer)? Thanks ________________________________________ From: A forum for independent school educators [ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] on behalf of Jesse Robinson [jrobinson@thesienaschool.org] Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 7:36 AM To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU Subject: Re: Minecraft Hi Renee, I started researching as soon as this thread started. In regards to licensing you can create any package you want. In order to use it in the classroom you need to purchase a regular minecraft license ($18 on the edu site) as well as an edu license ($41 on the edu site). You can install the edu license on as many machines you want as long as they already have minecraft installed on them. You can also give your students a copy of the edu license to install on their own computer at home which will allow them to access your 'sanboxed' minecraft server at school. So if you wanted to start with a lab of 10 computers you would need to buy 10 minecraft licenses at $18 each and one edu license at $41. Hope that makes sense. Regards, Jesse ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 10:47:07 -0400 From: Jesse Robinson <jrobinson@thesienaschool.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft I forgot to add....yes, if the student already owns Minecraft you don't have to buy them a license. You just have to give them a copy of the edu license and they will be able to access your server instance. On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 10:36 AM, Jesse Robinson < jrobinson@thesienaschool.org> wrote: > Hi Renee, > > I started researching as soon as this thread started. In regards to > licensing you can create any package you want. In order to use it in the > classroom you need to purchase a regular minecraft license ($18 on the edu > site) as well as an edu license ($41 on the edu site). You can install > the edu license on as many machines you want as long as they already have > minecraft installed on them. > > You can also give your students a copy of the edu license to install on > their own computer at home which will allow them to access your 'sanboxed' > minecraft server at school. > > So if you wanted to start with a lab of 10 computers you would need to buy > 10 minecraft licenses at $18 each and one edu license at $41. > > Hope that makes sense. > > Regards, > > Jesse > Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:48:30 +0000 From: Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft Thought of one more question... Most of my kids have their own Minecraft accounts already. I have heard some folks say they CAN use this in the edu world, but I heard others say they can't. I would prefer to let kids use their current account if possible...but is it possible? Thanks ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:05:07 -0400 From: Jesse Robinson <jrobinson@thesienaschool.org> Subject: Minecraft cont. Sorry, I had trouble posting this due to length of the stream: I found all the information on the purchasing faq: http://minecraftedu.com/purchase-faq.php#4 The licenses are simultaneous licenses. So if they are using the same computers you are fine. You will only need 20 licenses. Yes, if your students have their own copy all you need to do is provide them with the edu license (you bought one for $41). This lets them connect to your server from home. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:12:06 -0700 From: Nick McSpadden <nick.mcspadden@SACREDSF.ORG> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft Minecraft and MinecraftEdu are both Java applications, so they'll work on any platform that has a JVM installed. The server and client software is completely cross-platform compatible (meaning a Mac-hosted server can accommodate Windows clients, and Linux clients, etc.).
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Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:41:20 -0400 From: Jack Hardcastle <jwhardcastle@mcdonogh.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft Minecraft announced a new service today targeting families with a "controlled" environment and limited sharing: http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4098700/minecraft-realms-subscription-appeals-family-young-gamers Jack Hardcastle Director of Technology jwhardcastle@mcdonogh.org (443) 579 - 5225
------------------------------ Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:26:47 -0500 From: Vinnie Vrotny <vvrotny@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Minecraft Last week, I started a Minecraft after-school club. I have two groups of 2nd - 8th graders who meet on Monday or Thursday for 10 weeks. I have blogged about my journey ( http://vvrotny.org/2013/03/17/flipping-roles-learning-about-minecraft/) and our experience from the first week and a preview of this week's exploration (http://minecraft-questacademy.blogspot.com). I will be more than willing to share our experiences moving forward.
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Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:00:57 -0700 From: Nick McSpadden <nick.mcspadden@SACREDSF.ORG> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft Questions 1) You will get a list of 25 codes, but you really only need to redeem 1 for yourself. Technically, for students, you don't need to redeem any since they play "offline" (meaning they don't need to authenticate against Minecraft's login servers). 2) Regular Minecraft programs will probably not be able to join the MinecraftEdu server, as it contains extra modules not present in regular Minecraft. You can host a "classic" Minecraft server for regular clients to join using MinecraftEdu's ServerTool, but then you obviously don't get the benefits of the MinecraftEdu mod. You can host multiple servers simultaneously, though, so you can potentially host both kinds. If you wanted to be clever, you could even migrate the world map between the two server types. 3) What you can do is redeem the code to an account you create, such as MinecraftStudent1, and then give out the username and password to that account to individual students. These accounts *do* authenticate to Minecraft's official login servers, I believe, but I think users will also have the ability to potentially change the password. Generally speaking, it's probably easiest to just give them the software installer on a flash drive / host it internally, since the installer isn't publicly available on the website (and shouldn't be, since it allows users to play Minecraft without an account, thereby playing it for free). Generally, my suggestion is to avoid redeeming the codes to explicit accounts and to avoid giving those accounts to students. The MinecraftEdu EULA may not even permit home access, I honestly am not sure - this is something you may want to check on. 4) Yes, you can use any map you can create. The map structure is the same between MinecraftEdu and Minecraft. As long as you put it in the right location in the ServerTool worlds directory, you can start a server with any premade map you've got. On Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 3:36 PM, Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org>wrote:
So I am trying to go from 0 to at least 20 in a short period of time.**** ** ** I have purchased the education version and I have it running. My students can access it offline.**** ** ** I have tried reading the Wiki, but I haven’t found the following answers. I have emailed Minecraftedu, so hopefully will get a response, but I thought the collective wisdom here would know too:**** ** ** **1. ** I purchased 25 licenses. Should I be getting a list of 25 gift codes to redeem? They can all play offline now, but I want to open my server up to be accessible from home.**** **2. **Can those with current Minecraft accounts use those and the same software to access the server once I have it accessible outside the school? Do all they need is the IP of the school server?**** **3. **For those without Minecraft accounts, where do I have them download the software for their home computers? I would give them one of the 25 user accounts to use, but they need the software.**** **4. **Can I download and use any map with the EDU version or is there some special EDU coding I have to do, to get it to work? (I tried downloading one and putting it in the same folder as the other maps, but it is not working, so I must have missed something.)**** ** ** THANK YOU,**** ** ** Renee****
------------------------------ Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:13:50 -0500 From: Jayme Johnson <jjohnson@village-school.org> Subject: Re: Minecraft Questions I emailed MinecraftEDU about home access. They sent me another code to redeem (in addition to the one I paid for) that I could distribute to students. I passed it along, but not sure if the students were ever able to (or even tried to) login from home. Jayme On 3/19/13 4:00 PM, "Nick McSpadden" <nick.mcspadden@SACREDSF.ORG> wrote:
The MinecraftEdu EULA may not even permit home access, I honestly am not sure - this is something you may want to check on.
------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 23:05:06 +0000 From: Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> Subject: Minecraft We have ventured into MinecraftEDU for our first project. We do something called 1450 in 6th grade where kids are in one of five groups (China, Japan, etc.) and do a variety of projects over a two month period. For the culminating project, the students were allowed to select minecraft. They had to do a lot of planning out first on paper, and then they moved to the computer. The first day was Tuesday. The building is going well, but today we had kids come into the lab during lunch and destroy a lot of the work that had been done. We are using MinecraftEDU in offline mode, so I don't think there is anyway I can tell who did what. There are kids emailing me saying "I saw X do this" or "I said to kids to stop blowing things up but they wouldn't." Or "I saw Y setup up spawning in the middle of a building, now you can't use that building." (And I have no idea what that even means ) We are going to bring them together tomorrow to discuss it, and see if we can get to the bottom of who did what. But my question to all of you that use Minecraft, is have you had these issues? If so, how have you dealt with it? Thanks
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 11:06:47 -0400 From: Jason Johnson <jasonpjdc@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Minecraft All though it deals with a different game, from a behavioral perspective this recent article has great insight on what can be effective, some of which (e.g. tribunals) could be enacted in a classroom. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/05/using-science-to-reform-toxic-player-behavior-in-league-of-legends/ Functionally there are a number of plug-ins that might help from monitoring, http://www.curse.com/server-mods/minecraft/activitytracker to limits. My preference is to monitor and discus instead of having hard limits.: http://www.curse.com/server-mods/minecraft/grief-prevention _J
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 10:10:38 -0400 From: Bob Irving <irvingb@LANCASTERCOUNTRYDAY.ORG> Subject: Re: Minecraft Renee, I would highly recommend you join the Minecraft teachers group at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/minecraft-teachers It's an incredibly helpful group of people, and I am sure you will find the support you need there. Bob Irving Lancaster Country Day School Lancaster, PA
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 01:02:56 +0000 From: Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft We have the EDU version only open at school right now. It is only a very small part of a much larger project, and the kids had to do all the planning on paper before they even sat down on the computer. Before this happened today, I was going to open it up for kids to use at home, but now I am not sure this is a good idea. My 3rd grade teacher wants to use it for Oregon Trail, and 4th grade for Gold Rush. The 3rd grade teacher just gave an assignment that for fun kids that wanted to at home could build Oregon Trail. She sent this email to the parents. Almost half the class did it. They borrowed the iPads from school for one night to video tape their minecraft city narrating what they did then they shared it in class. So clearly, there are lots of kids, even in lower school, using Minecraft for personal use. So finding a way to incorporate this into education in a reasonable way, seems like a good idea...but this is really my first time using gaming that is not specifically an education game designed for school.
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 14:51:52 +0000 From: Dave Wang <dwang@bayschoolsf.org> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft Griefing (the Minecraft term for players destroying other players' work) is unfortunately a fairly common part of the Minecraft online culture. What Renee describes here is possibly another example of students taking personal online behavior and applying it in an educational setting. When this has happened at my school, I've taken the same approach that many others on ISED-L have used, namely to separate the behavioral piece from the technological piece. All it took was for me to point out that griefing someone's Minecraft creation is akin to intentionally deleting someone else's Humanities paper from their laptop. A quick web search for "Minecraft griefing" shows tons of griefing videos and other links. "Minecraft griefing prevention" shows some good collections of anti-griefing tools and approaches. Dave Wang The Bay School of San Francisco darthmalfoy in Minecraft
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From: Adrian Bica [mailto:abica@st-andrews.org] Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 4:50 PM
To: Renee Ramig Cc: A forum for independent school educators (ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU); 'BAISNet' (baisnet@albert.sacredsf.org)
Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft We had a Minecraft "epidemic" in the beginning of the year. It got so bad that parents started calling asking us to block it on the students' computers because their kids were turning into Minecraft drones spending way too many hours playing. We wanted to give it a shake see if there is any educational value to it so we had a couple of students do some Minecraft projects for their school work. The projects turned out pretty mediocre but I guess there was a good potential if we had given them more direction. I didn't know about the EDU version at the time so we ended up containing it. I am curious to learn how do you guys present Minecraft EDU to parents. While I see the potential here I am afraid to open a can of worms in my community. Thanks
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:06 +0000 From: Renee Ramig <rramig@sevenhillsschool.org> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft Part of that works, but we have an open lab at recess and lunch, and the expectation for this project was that students would have that time to work. Our lab is not always supervised during those times. However, the consequences of not using the time well, is that Minecraft will not be available during recess and lunch for now. Do you know if there is a way to set times for Minecraft to run and turn off? I don't have the time to get to a computer, so I can remote access into my MC server, so I can turn off the world, and then remember to turn it back on. I am not the one using Minecraft, it is my history teachers, and they don't have access to the MC server. For next year, what I might do, is install MC on the teacher computer and show them how to manage it on there, so they can choose when it is on or off. THANKS -----Original Message----- From: Talbot Moore [mailto:talbot.moore@sacredsf.org] Sent: Friday, May 17, 2013 8:43 AM To: Fred Jaravata Cc: A forum for independent school educators (ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU); 'BAISNet' (baisnet@albert.sacredsf.org); Howard Levin; Nick McSpadden; Renee Ramig Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft Good Morning, Renee and Adrian, After reading your email, it sounds to me to be an issue of access. It sounds as if your server is accessible by the students at any time ("in the lab at lunch"). I think if you restrict access to times when supervision is constant, you will have better results. I have my servers set up on my computer. When it is time to do the project, I open it up and students can log in. When the class period has ended (5 mins before, actually) the students log off and I save it. They do not have access unless it is during the time that I want them to be able to use it. This said, I have discovered that when students first begin to play they can be very destructive and greedy. By destructive I mean they destroy the buildings of others, and dig in random areas looking for items, etc. By greedy I mean they want to possess resources that others don't have, and also want to get resources quickly so others cannot have them. It seems to me to be the natural way that they begin, I started a 5th grade unit on Wednesday and the first 20 minutes was relative chaos ending up with students not knowing where they were on the map. "Hey get out of MY house!" "Don't touch that, it's MINE!" were shouted across the room. At the end of the class period, after the computers had been stored, I talked with them about what I saw occurring. I have them setting up a settlement (Jamestown era). We have studied Jamestown, Plymouth, etc., so it was easy for me to say. "Look, you guys are acting just like the first settlers. Just off the boat after six weeks, new resources, new lands to explore, but no direction." The discussion focused on the fact that initially, the English settlements were hanging on by a string, looking solely for valuable resources (like gold) and not investing in self-preservation. We will see how this works out next week, but the students left with their first goal partially complete and a realization that people needed to know their role and what is expected of them. Personal responsibility along with responsibility to the group. I think that setting attainable goals, assigning roles, and letting them figure it out is the way to deal with the management side of the Minecraft world. You will be amazed at what they are able to do and learn once the initial greed and destructiveness subsides. I have seen the curve with my 6th graders who have been working in Minecraft for a year...but it wasn't overnight. Another thing is to manage your expectations. Things aren't going to go exactly as you have planned them. That is where the learning on your (the instructor's) end comes from. They will do things differently. If you make solid goals/objectives, the process of how they achieve them is really one of the creative outlets that Minecraft allows. To sum it up, -I think that you should take down the server when you are not directly involved. Other students from other classes will want to play and they may not get what is going on and what you want your kids to achieve. -Set achievable goals and come together after the fact to have a whole group discussion AWAY from the computers to highlight successful strategies and group-think those strategies that aren't working. -And finally, observe more and let them figure it out...this can be frustrating, but they will learn more socially and academically if you do. I hope this helps, Talbot Moore 5th & 6th Grade History Teacher Stuart Hall for Boys 2222 Broadway San Francisco, CA 94115 415.563.2900
------------------------------ Date: Fri, 17 May 2013 14:42:14 -0400 From: Bob Irving <irvingb@LANCASTERCOUNTRYDAY.ORG> Subject: Re: BAISNet - Minecraft We had a session in our club and agreed on infractions and penalties. Griefing was at the top of the list. First offense = missing one club period Second offense = missing two club periods Third offense = time to find a new club We had one person with one offense. Since then, no problems, even from the original griefer. Bob Irving Lancaster Country Day School Lancaster, PA
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Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 16:15:57 -0500
From: Vinnie Vrotny <vvrotny@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Minecraft Tips,
Please Marti, I echo all of the above. I am currently in a Minecraft after-school club with 21 2nd - 5th graders. It is one of two that I do. I have been using it for the past nine months. And the students have taught me enough so that I can play survival and actually survive. We too have gotten the Edu version with server mod. I only allow users to play the Edu version in school. That way, students who do not have accounts can use them on the network.
There are also some great teacher controls for the game (freeze students, mute chat, give supplies) that is helpful. We are currently running two servers, one creative and one survival. I run the servers on two of the workstations that the students use. Students in my club are in the midst of building our own servers. I also recommend the Google group. It is full of great resources and helpful people.
There are also some great worlds, such as the World of Humanities that you can find, download, and use. WOH can be used in most history classes, as it has worlds based upon many different historical cultures, the Greeks, the Romans, the Aztec, the Chinese. Built into this world are many quests for students to work on (some require teamwork to complete).
I also suggest, like others, that you have the students create community standards around "griefing". We do this and base it on the school community pillars of character, respect, responsibility, industry, etc. This way if there is a disagreement, you can refer to the guidelines they made (and you led them too).
I also suggest that you/they establish activities and goals, especially for co-play in both worlds. Today, on our survival server, the goal is to help everyone build a shelter before night (I have many new players) and to learn how to craft different objects.
On the Creative, they are working on building roller coasters and water slides. This has bleed into our classroom work as well. Our 8th grade can use Minecraft to build their monument, our 5th graders are creating their vision of their dragon environment (a hallmark 5th project), and other Middle School classes are using for Independent Reading projects.
There are other projects in the planning process. Because we have purchased the Edu version, we are using the same licensing (it is a concurrent connection, so you can load on all computers). We create server worlds for each class which reside on the teacher's laptops. That way, the teachers can assess even when they go home.
Vinnie Vrotny, Director of Academic Technology,
Quest Academy
Blog - Multi-Faceted Refractions (vvrotny.org) Twitter, Skype, etc. - vvrotny
847-921-0023
"If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don't do that, you are wasting your time on this earth" -Roberto Clemente
