‘They’re just playing Minecraft.'

Dozens of students enter the library during both recess and lunch to play Minecraft. They walk in, laptops under their arms, often still chewing a mouthful of food that they hastily shoved in while walking from their class to the library. Their two 30-minute breaks are their time, to eat and use the restroom, sure, but mainly to continue their Minecraft gameplay. My colleagues in the library, and I, have all admitted on various occasions that we have no idea what is so enthralling about the game of Minecraft. The natural colour palette of greens, browns and blues looks pleasant enough, but to the untrained eye the ‘blocky’ gameplay of Minecraft is strangely reminisce of games circa 1990, and aren’t graphics meant to be, like, good, now? This apparent pixelated simplicity is where Minecraft’s real complexity lies and where it allows for unimaginable possibilities.

Minecraft Cube by Albin Olsson available under a CC BY-ND 3.0

Let’s talk about constructivism for a moment. Kuhlthau et al. (2015, p. 15) espouses the significance ‘engaging students in stimulating encounters with information and ideas’ to achieve deep learning. The literal construction embedded in the gameplay of Minecraft aligns with the elements of constructivism including being an active participant, reflection, and high levels of motivation (Kuhlthau et al., 2015, p. 15). There are several elements to consider at this point, firstly, that young people are able to play Minecraft minigames competitively, but Minecraft provides greater satisfaction through collaborative gameplay (Stuart, 2019, para. 9). Young people learn the skills required to play and create within the interface of the game and the adaptability and curiosity to play successfully, in many cases are aspects that transfer to different contexts. They also have an opportunity to be part of a team and all that encompasses—leadership, decision making, and compromise. 

The library may be filled with students playing competitively, but they are also creating worlds, contributing to shared resources, collaborating, problem solving, and also, having a lot of fun in their breaks between classes (Kuhlthau et al., 2015, p. 19; Fiske, 2010, p. 41). Minecraft offers a realm of possibilities as far as the gameplay and world creation goes. It is possible to design avatars and build all kinds of objects and places in creative mode and this is where it becomes a useful tool for school—we may not be able to attend a play during a pandemic, but Minecraft Education can give students the opportunity to build The Globe Theatre (Farber, 2016, para. 4). The level of skill required to build a real-world location in Minecraft is immense and would be an ideal task for a team of students (Fiske, 2010, p. 45). Consider how well this concept fits into the constructivist model of learning—active engagement in the learning process, building on what they have learnt in class and conducting further research, problem solving, collaborating with peers, and ongoing learning through the experience of adapting a real-world location into the game (Kuhlthau et al., 2015, p. 15). 

CmScreenshotsComp512px by Glitchunpatched available under a CC BY-ND 3.0

The convergence of media is evident in the way that Minecraft has transformed from its original ideation on PC to be a popular platform across many gaming consoles as well as populating video hosting sites like YouTube (Buckingham, 2016, pp. 78-79; T. Porter, personal communication, October 24, 2021). The way that it combines competitive gameplay with world creation also places it within the realm of convergence which is to say that it offers such broad experiences to users (Buckingham, 2016, p. 79). I spoke to my nephew for to fine tune my understanding of the game and it was evident, that the way that young people play the game depends greatly on the device they are using as there are different editions for PC, Xbox, Switch, and even mobile devices (T. Porter, personal communication, October 24, 2021). He assured me that there were positives and negatives of each, and he told me of his preferences given the technology he has available to him and what his parents allow him to use. I got a sense that Minecraft in both a literal and figurative sense fits into the ‘sandbox’ description with the capacity for individualised and creative gameplay (Chapman, 2011, para. 1: Kuhlthau et al., 2015, p. 15).

Now, the nitty gritty… could our kids get into strife while playing Minecraft? Let’s start with the cost. There is a one-off cost to purchase the game but there are some limitations in that, on some platforms, this does not allow a user to play with friends. For this to happen (and again, some of this information does depend on what console the game is played on), a subscription must be purchased and alongside access to regular game play, a server is provided, and this how one hosts games for others. An added benefit of a server is parental controls and there is an extra layer of modification possible as the user who holds the server is also able to set the in-game rules. The subscription fee could be prohibitive for many. The way that many young people access Minecraft is via accounts set up for school. For students with an Office365 account, Minecraft Education is available for free. Students will then have the opportunity to participate in learning-based maths and coding games and the freedom to use the subscription to build worlds and play with friends, beyond the scope of school assignments (Fiske, 2010, p. 44; Bowen, 2020, para. 3). 

Overall, the level of safety within the Minecraft platform really stood out to me, and I really did try to poke holes into the armour (there must be a LOT of enchants at work – that’s a Minecraft joke!). Young people with access to the game may play as individuals, with friends nearby, or online but even when they are online there are chat filters, parental controls, and ways to block other players which hopefully means the only baddies are those in-game – like ‘mobs’ of spiders, zombies, creepers (which, according to my nephew were actually first designed as pigs but there was a glitch, but they were kept in the game as Creepers. I was told to compare images of the two to see for myself—I have included the link below!) (T. Porter, personal communication, October 24, 2021; Mobs in Minecraft, 2011, para. 6). It is possible to report those who are not engaging in an appropriate manner, but I will reiterate, I am not naïve to think that every single member of the Minecraft community has only the best interests of fellow gamers in mind (Dowdall, 2009, p. 45). Being mindful of teaching moments around online safety would be useful.

SealbudsmanFace by SealbudsMan available under a CC BY-ND 3.0

The world building simply for the pleasure of creating is really highlighted in the create mode of Minecraft and the cognitive processes used for designs make it more than just a game (Fiske, 2010, p. 45; Johnson, 2005, p. 9). Considering the skills required of young people during competitive modes of  survival, minigames, and hardcore (this is when you have one in-game life, only!) as well, to determine what materials they need, to build shelter, find food, cook food, monitor their health, and build their in-game skill levels so they are able to strengthen their belongings with enchants, and the like, I think recess and lunch could be spent in worse ways!

Here are some questions you could ask to generate conversation about Minecraft:

1. What do you call yourself in Minecraft? Why did you decide upon this name?
2. What does your avatar look like? Have you ever downloaded a new ‘skin’?
3. Do you ever play competitive Minecraft? What do you like about this mode of gameplay?
4. Have you built any worlds in Minecraft? Are these from your imagination or are they based on real places?
5. What is the most difficult thing to do in Minecraft?
6. What do you enjoy most about Minecraft?
7. What is the most annoying thing about Minecraft?
8. Who are your favourite people to collaborate with in Minecraft? What do you each bring to the team?
9. If you could change one thing about Minecraft, what would it be?
10. How is playing at night, in the game, different to the daylight hours? Do you often make your avatar sleep through the night or are you on the lookout for monsters?
11. Do you chat to friends while playing Minecraft?
12. What is your favourite material to mine, in the game?
13. If someone younger than you is about to sign up to play Minecraft, how would you teach them to be safe while they play?
14. What would you rate the game out of 10? Who would you recommend the game to?
15. Summarise Minecraft in three words.

A little bit of help if you have no idea what this post is about:

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft Differences Between Creative, Survival, and Hardcore Game Modes

Mobs in Minecraft (these are the in-game goodies, and baddies)

Minecraft Skins

How Minecraft Creepers Originated From A Pig Accident 

 

Minecraft at 10: a decade of building things and changing lives

Common Sense Media - Minecraft

And a few (actually, there’s a lot…) Minecraft items for those who need a gift idea (there’s even books!):

Big W

Target

Kmart

Reference List

Bowen, R. (2020). A Look At Minecraft: Education Edition & How To Play. Moms. https://www.moms.com/minecraft-education-edition-details/ 

Buckingham, D. (2013). Beyond technology: Children's learning in the age of digital culture. Polity Press.

Chapman, D. (2011). Minecraft. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/minecraft 

Dowdall, C. (2009). Masters and critics: Children as producers of online digital texts. In V. Carrington & M. Robinson (Eds.), Digital Literacies: Social learning and classroom practices (pp. 43-61). Sage.

Farber, M. (2016). 3 Ways to Use Game Based Learning. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-ways-use-game-based-learning-matthew-farber 

Fiske, J. (2010). Understanding Popular Culture. Routledge.

Johnson, S. (2005). Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. Riverhead Books.

Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2015). Guided Inquiry; learning in the 21^st Century (2^nd ed.). Libraries Unlimited.

Mobs in Minecraft. (2011). Minecraft101.net. http://www.minecraft101.net/r/mobs.html 

Stuart, K. (2019). Minecraft at 10: a decade of building things and changing lives. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2019/may/18/minecraft-at-10-building-things-and-changing-lives