Minecraft Day 7 - 11 July

The Minecrafters were eager to get under way today. After another initial distraction with flares (boys love bright lights!), we were under way. Jg1025 appeared back after being banned, and was very quiet and humble, obviously having realised that his underground cavern had been discovered. He asked if we'd like him to fill it in. I said there was work to be done elsewhere, and no time to be filling it in. He worked well (after another momentary diamond distraction) building a food stall area in the courtyard, collaboratively with a team mate.

There was a pleasant hum for most of the session, although things got rather heated at one stage between members of the Blocknchips team. I know I should have left them to it to see what happened, but it was getting very angry - raging?! Hmmm, what WOULD have happened.... Anyway, up from the table and talk was my strategy. Sort it out democratically, vote (three members in the team, so majority rules), but make sure each member has something to work on and all have agreed before sitting down again. And boy, do they want to get back to work! So, a good opportunity to work on a strategy for resolving situations that they MIGHT apply again in the future in other aspects of their lives.

I tried to help out by filling in some of the spare allotments with grass rather than the current tiles. I was also called upon to destroy some accidentally placed information blocks. I found that, with this practice, I got quite a bit faster at moving around. I'm looking forward to having more time to practise and learn in the school holidays (over the next two weeks).

I don't think this theme park would meet New Zealand Safety standards - some of the stairways and ladders look very precarious!

I have discovered that there is a server log that I can view and print off, that shows the Chat log from the whole time the World has been running. It'll be interesting to read and see if I can analyse it. Should there be a log that also shows players' actions? That might be rather large to look through though, if it exists...

I have to check with parents and teachers, to see whether they will agree to us carrying on for another 3 weeks next term - we need time to polish a couple of things, time to play, let off fireworks, and explore each other's theme areas, and time to record the tours of each section with a commentary. Then I'd like to give these students the chance to try out the MinecraftEDU Tutorial. I have also asked our Principal if I can have a session after school on a Thursday, for those who don't have to catch the school bus. She was very agreeable, so I'll see if I can get this under way.

Students seemed keen on the possibility of playing in survival mode next term, and building crop farms according to the growth and science theme that will be the focus. Does anyone have thoughts on how to make this really exciting?

There was a bit of excitement as we began to disconnect at the end of the session, somehow an area got on fire, and the flames were beginning to spread - yikes! I think lava was involved, or somehow someone had accidentally started the fire in the cobbled area near the carpark. There was PANIC and urgent calls for me to unfreeze them so they could pour water on the fire. Phew, all was well. And this reminds me, I've noticed that the server does automatic saves (though DOXINWHAT says that's not what's happening, but I notice that when I sign out without saving, everything is exactly as it was when I return, and I carry on from the same position....).

Back in the staffroom, the teachers asked how the session had gone, and laughed when I told them about the panic with the lava and putting our fires etc. It had seemed so real!

I think that it might be fun to have a session for teachers later in the year, to have a bit of a play, instructed by the students.

Minecraft Day 6 - 5 July

We're running out of time - there is only one more week of term left! I came in specially on Friday afternoon to work with this group, because many of the students were away at a soccer and hockey tournament on my usual Thursday. Space was at a premium and the Conference Room was also being used as a temporary office by our Principal. She kindly allowed us to work around her and there wasn't too much chaos!

Pjw must have forgotten to show up. And we had Jg1025 missing this session because of the Charter rules. This meant that (Steve) was working on his team's project on his own today.

Before I let students loose on the computers, I asked them to discuss and note down the sorts of signs they needed to include in their areas. I wanted to see some descriptions of the Kiwiana aspects of their designs beginning to appear. They had to imagine the sorts of information tourists would need. They also had to discuss with their teams, what they would be working on today.

I notice that most groups tend to have the individuals doing pretty much their own thing, and collaboration is at a fairly surface level. At every session, I'm finding I need to uproot some students from their seats, move them from their computer screens, and have them work things out face to face - they get very indignant (naturally) if someone else is 'unbuilding' what they have built; or if they can't agree on what else is to be built. I tell them that if they can't work things out, they'll have to 'paper, scissors, rock' to see who will decide - they generally work it out themselves before that, but it IS a case of having them look at each other in the 'real world'. If these students were more articulate with the written word (and able to use the Chat feature effectively for this) then they might work things out better within their virtual environment. The older students are definitely able to work more collaboratively - is that age, gender, or personality, I wonder?

Beacons were a popular item to build today, but students soon got busy on the essentials and signs began appearing. They tended to be based on students' own background knowledge, rather than any new research (this might work better in a classroom). Several students were asking for help with their spelling - a good opportunity for a bit of a lesson, but work needs to be done on punctuation too!

Towards the end of the session, one of the students noticed that a huge underground cavern had been dug beneath much of the theme park. It was all lit up, and included things like an enchanting table, a stream and a waterfall..... hmmm, everyone crowded in to have a look and they were trying to figure out who might have done this, and when..... They decided that the likely person was our player who was required to miss a session, but there was no real evidence (will the server logs tell me - I'll need to check). This mystery created quite a lot of interest and discussion, but the students were all very indignant. My main concern was that whoever had done this had been spending a lot of time hiding underground and building something completely unrelated to the project and what their team was working on. It had been concealed. Also, with an enchanting table hidden there, what was planned in the future? Some students wanted to start filling it all in, but we didn't have time. Next week could be interesting...
Next week we will finish clearing the empty allotments and turning them into grass, and work on the central food and seating area. Also the main ticketing office at the entrance to the theme park. The car park area has been started. I'm really looking forward to going on those roller coasters!

I am thinking we will all need to meet again in the first week back after our 2-week holiday (starting after this week). Students will record a tour through their area, and narrate it. They will be able to visit the other areas of the theme park and enjoy exploring. And then, the following week, I'd like to show them the MinecraftEDU Tutorial world.

They are already asking whether the same students will be able to continue next term but I haven't decided yet. I'm conscious of other students wanting to be involved too. And it will also depend on whether parents will be happy for their children to continue. I would definitely like to try a survival world next time. The theme for the school next term is related to growing and science. So it could involve teams of students building communities and farming crops and animals.

There have been updates to MinecraftEDU since we got under way, but I haven't been game to update our version yet - I would have to update all the computers, and haven't wanted to risk problems from doing this.