Preview – Minecraft University

Posted on: Thursday 23 June 2016 12:32pm by James Coleman

James Coleman, producing Minecraft University, asks “How can you teach kids in a world where they are the experts?”

In this Minecraft University course, crammed into one hour, and hosted by Educational Technologist, Donna Comerford, we mine Minecraft and its ancillary activities to discover the opportunities they present to children, educators, and the community.

Most of us have had some personal experience of the Minecraft phenomenon. It’s totally immersive, challenging, creative, social, developmental, eclectic and has ‘captured’ millions of young users.  On YouTube millions of kids are watching people building and playing in Minecraft as their daily entertainment “fix”.  Educators are already engaging, of course, especially as Minecraft sits so well as a bridge between creating and coding – the new educational priority.

Now that Minecraft is owned by Microsoft, it’s particularly appropriate that Stuart Ball, who is leads on STEM subjects for the UK Microsoft Education Community, is coming to demonstrate the newly available ‘Minecraft Edu’.  What’s special about this is that Stuart will be ably assisted in this by his 7-year-old associate and YouTube sensation, ‘Solly the Kid‘.  Together they’ll explore how educators can present problems within Minecraft that can be related to the real world and how kids respond.

Adam Clarke is a former educator, and now he styles himself a ‘Minecraft artist’. He stars (as Wizard Keen) alongside the hugely popular Stampy Cat in the educational YouTube Channel ‘Wonder Quest‘. In our Minecraft University he’ll present the marriage between entertainment and engagement, while demonstrating what’s possible creatively and artistically within Minecraft.

Joseph Palmer, takes us further into the real world application of Minecraft experiences. He’s co-founder of Block Builders, and brings his experience of engaging children with social and environmental issues, challenging them to think about how they could improve their communities inside and outside Minecraft.

It’s the first University course you’ll take where one of the guest lecturers is 7 years old.  But – that’s Minecraft folks!

Minecraft University, Thursday 7 July 12:45 – 13:45 in the  HUBS Common Room.