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Title:
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EXPLORING THE EDUCATIONAL POTENTIAL OF MINECRAFT: THE CASE OF 118 ELEMENTARY-SCHOOL STUDENTS |
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Author(s):
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Thierry Karsenti and Julien Bugmann |
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ISBN:
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978-989-8533-71-5 |
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Editors:
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Piet Kommers, Tomayess Issa, Pedro Isaías and Ana Hol |
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Year:
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2017 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Minecraft, Educational Games, Motivation, Collaboration, Creativity |
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Type:
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Short Paper |
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First Page:
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175 |
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Last Page:
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179 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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The goal of this study was to explore the educational potential of Minecraft. This project was conducted with 118 elementary-school students from Canada during the 2016-2017 school year. To explore the educational potential of Minecraft on the students, we designed a Minecraft challenge for students. 10 game levels of ascending difficulty were created for them, each containing 3 sublevels to pass before moving up to the next level. In order to advance to the Minecraft Master level, the students had to complete a total of 30 tasks. A moderator specialized in Minecraft gameplay was present during the gaming sessions, which took place at the schools. Ten different types of data collection tools, such as online surveys, interviews, classroom observations, think aloud interviews during Minecraft gaming sessions, student-generated Minecraft creations, etc. In this study, we first report on how Minecraft was used with those 118 elementary-school students. We then highlight the educational potential of Minecraft by describing how the use of Minecraft benefitted students in various aspects of their learning. These positive outcomes include, but are not limited to: an increase in motivation, the development of collaboration skills, the learning of computer programming, and the development of other computer science competencies. |
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