Designing Learning Activities in Minecraft for Formal Education in Geography
First author: SenaYear: 2023
Abstract
Digital technology has shaped the way humans interact with information and create knowledge. These conditions have in turn shaped a generation of people who experienced virtual environments very early in their lives and are often referred to as digital natives. This group of people has a particular way of communicating and interacting. It characterizes their affinity spaces and the many experiences with virtual worlds and digital games. In digital games, the separation between entertainment and learning is becoming less pronounced. Many game titles have been used for educational purposes. An iconic example is Minecraft, which has been used formally in some schools to teach topics on the environment. However, studies on formal topics in Geography are conspicuously absent, and we therefore selected Minecraft to understand how digital natives learn about Geography given the character of its virtual environment. To this aim, we developed a learning task scenario for global climate zones. The scenario was tested in two pilot studies with two different groups of participants. The results indicate that participants already share some degree of knowledge about the game environment, despite differences within the digital native group. Using the results of the pilot studies, we discuss the design choices to engage players in the game’s learning activity.Details
Language: EnglishCountry of affiliation: Czech Republic
Published in: International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (IJET)
Publication type: Journal article
Source: https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v18i04.36307
Games
No Results
Franchises
No Results
Studies
Description: Questionnaire and observations of player and gameplay to gauge player profiles and responses to a prototype pedagogical experience
Research type: Non-experimental
Data type: Mixed
Comparator: none
Control group: no
Pilot study: no
Pre/post measures used: no
Follow-up: no
Sample type: Players
Sample size: 80
Power analysis: no
Sample countries: Czech Republic
Games studied: Minecraft
Franchises studied: Minecraft (F)
Study outcomes: Ingame interactions, Knowledge