Topic 9

Comment posted Thursday 31st October on Tanya Daley’s Blog

Thank you to your son for his valuable insight. It’s great to see feedback from a student to help us to know that this is worth doing and is engaging.
The bat activity is definitely something practical that teachers could work towards implementing.

I think one of the positives to Minecraft is that we already have so many experts in our classrooms. Obviously, we can’t assume that all students have this expertise, but I love to take a back seat and let my students teach each other how to use the technology (especially when they know more than me!). You could also partner beginners up with experts and help to build their confidence that way.

Comment posted Sunday 3rd November on Stephen Murray’s Blog

Thank you for your post, Stephen.
You make a good point about creating time for research to ensure historical learning takes place. With a lot of students, this may need to be enforced and monitored as I think you are right in thinking they would want to rush straight into the ‘fun’ part!

I love the idea of students being able to explore historical landmarks like this, and I think it would also lend well to the use of virtual reality. How amazing that we can provide some experience of seeing these places without them leaving the classroom. I am an avid traveller and love when you see students start to develop that urge to see the world. I truly think that travel broadens the mind.

These lessons would also lend well to a number of critical thinking exercises. They could reflect on how these landmarks are being impacted by tourism (e.g. Venice is being damaged by cruise ships, Rome is being damaged by over-tourism, the waterways and bridges being damaged by the “love lock” trend), by environmental issues (e.g. the Great Barrier Reef and coral bleaching, logging of rainforests), and of course those that are threatened by war which include several of those in your chosen Minecraft activity. The opportunities are endless!