Share Paper: Gaming Pedagogy and Connected Learning: Perspectives from the Global Minecraft Mentoring Program

  1. Mia Kim Williams, University of Wyoming, United States
  2. Matthew Farber, University of Northern Colorado, United States

Abstract: Passionate teachers have adopted and adapted Minecraft into a variety of classroom disciplines and contexts (Dikkers, 2015; Farber, 2017; Kafai & Burke, 2016). An open environment sandbox of interactive virtual building blocks, “like typing paper, [Minecraft] can be used to represent ideas effectively and in a 3D space” (Dikkers, 2015, p. 101). This research explores and describes Microsoft Education’s Global Minecraft Mentor Program from the perspective of its participants. It seeks to understand the experiences related to teaching and learning among educators within this space, entry points to onboard teachers who have little or no background in adapting Minecraft: Education ...