For this last week I wanted to share where learning about Minecraft has taken us next. I was quick to use Youtube to find out more information one because I know there are millions of videos on nearly every subject but also because I am a visual and kinesthetic learner. I have to first see it and then try it out myself in order to fully process the learning. So the more Youtube videos I watch the more my children wanted to explore as well. This was again a little scary for me because once you open that Youtube or Pandora’s Box it is hard to scale back. Each time we would sit down to play my girls would want to go watch Stampylonghead Minecraft videos. I couldn’t understand why you want to sit and watch videos of other people playing. I kind of checked out mentally or thought about the other 1,000 things I needed to get accomplished. I would ask them, “but don’t you want to play the game not watch the game?” A’s response was a lightbulb for me-- she said, “but mom I like to watch the videos because he builds such cool things. I can copy him and build the things he builds and build a farmland.” Which is exactly what I read when I came across an article called, “Minecraft gamer's YouTube hit 'more popular than Bieber.” In describing the channel the article says, “Welcome to the new world of children's entertainment, where devoted gamers watch videos of other people playing so they can perfect their skills and become better players.” I thought this quote was also very powerful, “"I think it makes it feel more personal than watching a TV and they feel like they know me more. I'll get messages from people, not about my videos, just telling me what they did that day.” StampyCat or (his nickname) posts a new Minecraft video every day for his 6 million viewers. On top of his regular channel he has created another channel called “WonderQuest” in which Stampy and his friends try to save a town from evil-- all through the use of Minecraft. I think it is fascinating how a computer game was able to turn itself into a full fledge community of learning on-line. What I appreciate eve more is the conversations that I can have with others, whether it be educators, parents or my friends that stem from questioning what Minecraft is. When I first started questioning what Minecraft was I didn't really know what questions to even ask. Let’s take a look at my original inquiry questions: 1. What is Minecraft? 2. Will I learn to code by playing Minecraft? Is it coding? 3. What do the books have to do with Minecraft that I see in the stores? Do I need the books? 4. Will our relationship feel more connected since we will be playing this together? 5. Will my other daughter feel left out? Will she want to join in as well? 6. Do you win? Lose? Die? 7. What are the positives of Minecraft? 8. What are the negatives? 9. Will I want to continue to play after the project is over? 10. How much does Minecraft cost to keep up? Is it a one time fee or do you need to purchase more things as time goes by? I am going to answer these questions in my final 20time post but just looking at them I can see how my learning path took me to more than I could have imagined in the beginning. Resources: Minecraft gamer's YouTube hit 'more popular than Bieber' - BBC News. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2015.
2 Comments
Lexie
7/29/2015 01:42:02 pm
Kelly,
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Wow! I have the exact same questions to match your inquiry questions, so I am going to need to start at week 1 to learn about Minecraft, too. Now that we are getting to the end of the massive assignment list, I feel like I have more time to really explore everyone's work this summer. That's has been the hardest part for me of the 20time project: balancing the time I spend on my own project with the support I would like to give to my fellow cohort members. Your Minecraft journey has me hooked, though, I will be back to Week 1 to see your process through!
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