David Lee EdTech

Special thanks to Jon Barry, Annette Welpman, Katherine Fleetwood, and Rebecca Mitchell! Korea International School Standards/Benchmarks Standard 1- Culture: Knowledge Benchmarks A - "Culture" refers to the behaviours beliefs, values, traditions, institutions, and ways of living together of a group of people; C - How cultural beliefs, behaviours, and values allow human groups to solve the problems of daily living; D - How culture may change in response to changing needs and concerns; 2 - Explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways various cultural groups meet similar needs and concerns Standard 3 - People, Places, and Environments: Knowledge Benchmarks A - The theme of people, places, and environments involves the study of location, place, and the interactions of people with their surroundings; D - Factors influencing various community, state, and regional patterns of human settlement, such as the availability of land and water, and pla...

  During Minecraft club, I observe my students cultivating their communities and developing their civic skills in the game ( Click here to see the learning objectives of the club. ). Last week, I noticed something that testifies that I am a newb to Minecraft; I was the only player with the  default skin (Steve) . In Minecraft, a skin is the textural surface area of a player. All my students were running around with custom skins that made them distinct. So over the weekend, I used  Minecraft Skin Studio  to create my character's skin.  The app provides you with a menu. Tap on 'Create a Skin.' You have three options when creating your skin. You can choose from template skins (provides you with a head, but no clothes), community skins (skins created by other users), or start on your own blank skin. I chose the Hunter skin created by Andiman117, and edited the head to make it look somewhat like me.  Community Skins Template Skins S...

Mike Rugnetta's  video  inspired me to think about how Minecraft can be used to teach economics. If you have played Minecraft (adventure mode) before, you would know that the 3D procedurally generated world contains limited resources for you to use to survive. This means that your tools, food and natural resources can be used up. This feature of the game can help illustrate the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.  Content Standards You might be asking, "What grade could I use Minecraft to teach economics?".  Well here are some grade-specific  CA social studies standards  for your Minecraft economics lessons.  Grade 1: 1.6 Students understand basic economic concepts and the role of individual choice in a free-market economy. 1. Understand the concept of exchange and the use of money to purchase goods and services. 2. Identify the specialized work that people do to manufacture, transport, and mar...

Objective: Develop Civic Competence Create a culture for their community Adapt to environment Experience interactions among other individuals and groups (communication/collaborative skills) Develop structures of governing power and authority Understand the interdependence of communities Develop ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship Here is what happened during the last three days of Minecraft club: Community 1: The community improved their tools for more efficient and productive work.  The blacksmith created full sets of armor for their soldiers. They moved their farm to a larger and safer area to produce more food (2). A member from the other community came their base to ask if he could join them. The majority of the community voted for him to be accepted into the community (3, 4).  Community 2: Members mentioned that the commands given were not productive (3) Advanced players were always separate from the rest of the grou...

Day One On day one of Minecraft Club, I had my students  research civic concepts : culture adaptation to environments social interactions of groups governing powers interdependence of communities citizenship Day Two On day two, students were divided into two "communities." Each community had a team captain. Their goal was to create the ideal community. Here is what I observed on the first day:   Contact Between Communities Team leaders communicated with one another which areas they claimed so that the other team could not develop any structures in their area.  The team leaders met to negotiate trades. They were more willing to trade off resources they did not need or value; usually if they have a large supply of a specific resource.  Team One Designated Specific Roles: The roles of each group member was distributed by their specific abilities and skills. Hunters were required to find animals for food. The food was distri...

It all started with two passionate 5th graders who visited my computer lab during lunch recess. The two students were playing Minecraft to collaboratively build a small house. Their fervent conversation about the online game got my attention, and I saw an immediate potential in using the game in an educational setting. So I asked the boys if I could sit with them and ask them a few questions about the game. Click on the image below to see our conversation.   After a week of thinking, I decided to create a unit on civic competence that would integrate Minecraft game play. Here is the unit summary : Students will learn to build constructions with digital tools and textured cubes in an online 3D procedurally generated world. This 3D world consists of the same properties that exist in the real world, such as weather conditions, natural resources, living things, habitats, and agriculture. The simulation also provides players with health bar and hunger bar that they will need to maintai...

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpplbJMj-No?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=500&h=375] Google Cultural Institute is a website designed to inform visitors about historical cultural stories through video, photographs, manuscripts, and exhibits. This website could be an essential research resource to any social studies unit or history course. You can find world changing events by time or topic. Each search will also provide you with related topics. Since this is a Google website, you can share your interesting findings through Google+!  ( Source: http://www.youtube.com/ )