Teaching Coding in MineCraft - Cuboid Fun for All
We know that children love to play games, and in fact playing games has shown to improve outcomes for students. We also know that teaching computational thinking helps with logical reasoning, problem solving and many other real world skills. So it only makes sense to teach coding within the familiar and fun environment of Minecraft.
Which Language
I have seen a mix of Javascript and Python options available. There are also some block based options open to students. My preference is for block based code as this teaches computation thinking without children needing to learn the ins and outs of a language and the coding syntax.
Getting Started
There are many different ways to code in Minecraft some are free and some are subscription based. The subscription based are often easier to set up but of course they may be out of budget for some schools. The free options can be fiddly to get going but once up and running work a treat.
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi's run a special version of Minecraft. This allows students to interact with a Raspberry Pi and develop their coding skills inside the Minecraft world. This version runs Python so you will need to teach coding syntax to students. This makes for a great project in high school.
Minecraft Education
This is the simplest way to get started with coding in Minecraft. It offers lesson plans and resources to follow and the environment can be adapted to many different subject areas. The bonus of this platform is that it offers block based coding that is easy for students to pick up and have results very quickly. If they have used Scratch coding before this will be familiar.
LearntoMod
This is a fantastic website that encourages modding as a way into code. Students are still learning to code and break the boundaries of Minecraft. There are tutorials and step by step guides to follow to support the learning in this environment. If you have already purchased Minecraft this tacks on nicely at no extra cost (if you are an educator, there is a subscription for individual non-educational users) and there are no subscription costs associated with LearntoMod making it a top choice. It is worth noting that coding is also block based here.
Other Choices
There are other ways to learn to code with Minecraft such as code.org, but the best and simplest choices are those mentioned above.
Next Steps
I would really encourage you to look into Minecraft coding for your students. You can approach many different subject areas beyond computing whilst maintaining engagement in a familiar and fun environment.
sometimes children can also lazy to learn because too focused on playing the game, my sister at home must always remember to learn because already addicted, can you love a good solution to solve problems like this? Help me !!!
This is a challenge. But I find that by setting challenges that are both fun and force engagement with the code they get involved. For example I recently made a repeating pattern lesson in the Minecraft that made a basic castle in one click. The kids loved it. Those that were stragglers in the first few weeks joined in. Some kids take a bit of time to win over. But with purposeful and engaging lessons the soon join in on the journey.
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Great article, the children love Minecraft, so what a great tool to use in computing, I will try to get this aet up for the Spring term, cheers!
Easy to do on the Raspberry Pi's. I'm working on some lessons at the moment and will probably share the planning, etc here :).