Vance stevens on Minecraft at Techno CLIL 2017

Vance Stevens on Minecraft
for language teaching and CLIL
Vance Stevens is founding co-moderator of
EVO Minecraft MOOC
EVOMC15, EVOMC16, and EVOMC17

This slide presentation
with working links, is at
http://slideshare.net/vances
Vance Stevens EVOMC17 at Techno CLIL Jan 15 2017

EVO Minecraft MOOC – #EVOMC17
https://youtu.be/GDHdEeILiQA

Vance is invited to talk to EVO Techno_CLIL
https://moodle4teachers.org/enrol/index.php?id=90

Let’s parse this:
EVO Techno CLIL
CLIL – Content and Language Integrated Learning
1. Dual focus - fostering development of language
competences and the delivery of subject content at the
same time
2. Learning of a curricular subject in a foreign language
1. Great advantages in terms of students' learning outcomes and cognitive
processes.
3. This EVO session is aimed at … combining teaching
strategies and technical tools (e.g. Minecraft)

1. Minecraft and CLIL: Language competence
Dual focus - fostering
development of language
competences and the delivery of
subject content at the same time
http://www.tesl-
ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume18/ej70/ej70int/
We’ll look at
3 stories from this article

Story 1: Marijana and Filip Smolčec
Episode 234: Sunday September 7,
2014
Learning2gether in Hangout
with Marijana Smolčec talking about
the EU LLP Comenius Project
http://learning2gether.net/2014/09/0
7/learning2gether-in-hangout-with-
marijana-smolcec-talking-about-the-
eu-llp-comenius-project/ -
http://sco.lt/9N7yBV
This slide from
http://www.slides
hare.net/vances/e
vo-minecraft-
mooc-at-the-
2015-slanguages-
online-
conference/9

Story 2: David Dodgson
Dodgson, D. (2014). Breaking the learning
blocks – Minecraft and language learning. The
Future of Education, Reform Symposium,
RSCON 2014. Available:
http://www.futureofeducation.com/forum/to
pics/breaking-the-learning-blocks-minecraft-
and-language-learning.

Story 3: Jeff Kuhn, Zombies, and Writing
Learning2gether Episode 222:
Saturday, June 14, 2015 -
CALL-IS and IATEFL LTSIG webinar on
Gaming and Gamification: A Win-Win
for Language Learning
http://learning2gether.net/2014/06/1
4/learning2gether-about-gaming-and-
gamification/

2. Learning curricular subjects in a foreign language
But is it in the
curriculum?
• The curriculum is in it!
• Mary Kay Polly explains
how
• Her students played
Minecraft in available spare
time
• She wanted to integrate
that in her curriculum
• She had students prepare a
justification
• They worked the
curriculum into Minecraft

3. Combining teaching strategies and technical tools
And the teaching strategy is
•Gamification
http://www.slideshare.net/vances/a-convergence-of-minecraft-and-clil-57860221

What is Minecraft?
A foreboding but benign view from Jeff’s castle on the EVO Minecraft MOOC creative server
Vance Stevens EVO Techno-CLIL Feb 3, 2016

Minecraft basics
Creative
• Users can fly
• Unlimited inventories
(build anything, try anything)
• Monsters are benign
(no risk of sudden death)
• Fanciful builds are possible
and common (examples
follow)
Survival
• Users can jump, no flying
• Players harvest resources to
• get sticks, make planks, crafting
tables, larger objects,
• Mine for resources to craft weapons,
pickaxes, supply light and power
• Must devise shelter for night to
avoid monsters (cause you to
respawn)
• You must maintain health by
eating and avoiding pitfalls
• Players enjoy challenge to survive;
other players prove helpful
Each user purchases a user ID for less than $30,
User and server software is free to download
The game has two modes, creative and survival.
A night / day cycle is 20 minutes
http://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/10208/are-the-days-
and-nights-in-minecraft-of-equal-length

Why a MOOC?
• Massive
• Open as in free to
learn AND
resources
freely
available
• Online
• Course
Stephen Downes 2012; posted in Alan Levine:
http://cogdogblog.com/2012/09/21/just-ds106/

Dave Cormier on Complex / Chaotic
Vance Stevens at GLoCALL Ahmedabad 2014
http://learning2gether.net/2013/01/20/dave-cormier-discusses-cmooc-and-multimooc-co/
From
http://www.slideshare.
net/vances/plenary-
ahmedabad2014

EVO Minecraft MOOC’s hidden agenda
• EVO Minecraft MOOC is not so
much about Minecraft as
• It’s about gamification
• EVO Minecraft MOOC sessions
let educators experience
• being in a game that that looks
like Minecraft,
• but is in fact
a Game Space where they
experience gamification
https://plus.google.com/109470953746627527721/posts/84Yf6qqapEv

Big G and little g games
From Gee, J.P. (2008) “Learning and games.” The ecology of games:
Connecting youth, games, and learning. Edited by Katie Salen. The John D.
and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and
Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. (pp. 21-40). Available:
http://ase.tufts.edu/DevTech/courses/readings/Gee_Learning_and_Games_2008.pdf
■ The little g game is “the
software in the box and
all the elements of in-
game design”
■ The Big G Game is “the
social setting into which
the game is placed” (p..24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnEN2Sm4IIQ

How to play the Big G Game of EVOMC16
The Google+ Community
“game board”
(explained in next slide)
https://plus.google.com/
u/0/communities/11299
3649763396826671

How to play the Big G Game of EVOMC16
• Start at http://evosessions.pbworks.com and find EVO Minecraft MOOC
http://evosessions.pbworks.com/w/page/113561512/2017_EVO_Minecraft_M
OOC
• This points you to the Google+ Community
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/11299364976339682667
1
• Find the sidebar to the right of the community page.
Here you can figure out how to:
• Access the syllabus http://tinyurl.com/evomc16-syllabus
• Enroll in the course: http://goo.gl/forms/zALHMWsPGX
This is essential in order to be whitelisted on the EVO Minecraft server
• Find your missions to accomplish each week
http://missions4evomc.pbworks.com/

Missions 4 EVO Minecraft MOOC
http://missions4evomc.pbworks.com/

Gamification is not taught, it is learned
How can gamification be modeled so that it can be learned?
• Set up a game space
• Put the components in place
• A game board
• Links to other components
• A little g game to provide
intrinsic motivation
• A reward structure
e.g. badges
• And then, play

How EVO Minecraft MOOC operates
Once the pieces are in place, it just happens
• People start to play
• They don’t ask many questions
they just get on with it
• We use Doodle to schedule
meetings in-world
• People post to G+ Community
• Participants record missions
• Some people like a syllabus,
gamers are happy with Community as Curriculum and MOOCs

Community as Curriculum
• Cormier, D. (2008). Rhizomatic education: Community as
curriculum. Innovate, 4(5). Reprinted with permission of
the publisher; available:
http://davecormier.com/edblog/2008/06/03/rhizomatic-
education-community-as-curriculum

Why is EVO Minecraft MOOC a Game?
• The Big G Game of Minecraft MOOC has rules with
• Flexibility,
• Goals
• Challenges
• Awards in the form of
badges
• Participants have to figure out
these rules,
• The Game is designed
to let them to figure it out
• As in any game, it it's more fun if it doesn't play out the way
anyone especially anticipated.

Survival and Gamification
Survival helps us understand gamification
• When you enter survival mode
you learn important life skills
• You assist and are assisted by
others in world
• With cooperation and help you stay alive and learn
• So gamification turns out to be learning
through
• teamwork
• mutual support
• meeting challenges
• and achieving your goal, whatever it is

Survive and Learn: Examples

This has been
Vance Stevens on Minecraft
for language teaching and CLIL
http://slideshare.net/vances
Hope you enjoyed it

Vance stevens on Minecraft at Techno CLIL 2017

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