Hello Everybody

Hello Everybody,

I hope I'm not too late to join in on the conversations. My history with Minecraft has its bumps, and I am really hoping this MOOC will show me how we can use regular, vanilla Minecraft in the classroom. Before Microsoft bought Mojang and Teacher Gaming's rights, I created a 501(c)(3) so that I could use MinecraftEDU. Microsoft does not recognize nonprofits as being worthy of using the EDU version so my nonprofit is pretty useless at the moment. It is funny because I created the nonprofit so homeschooling families could access MCedu, yet when they bought the rights from Teacher Gaming, Microsoft lets homeschooling groups have access to the EDU version, but not nonprofits. I want to convince my IT person that we should still build the virtual computer lab even if we can't create a MCedu server for it. I need to learn how to create worlds that let students learn things.

Long story longer- I did a Masters in ED Tech at Boise State University online. I was remotely familiar with MC before then, but had no clue how powerful it is until I took a class that showed us how to use MC, WoW, and SeecondLife in classrooms. I have become addicted to digging holes and building really crappy houses. I don't fight monsters. I don't know any of the lingo our kids use because I am somewhat oblivious to all the fun they have in MC. OH! I even have a Tynker account so I can learn how to make MC mods. I sort-of learned how to spontaneously place sheep in places and was thrilled to just click and there was a sheep.

I am hoping the course will pull me out of my tiny world and into the greater world where I know MC can be used to educate kids.