Since September I teach CS and Technology Education for 5th and 6th grades at my children's school.

Since September I teach CS and Technology Education for 5th and 6th grades at my children's school. Last Friday we discussed about plants cultivation and we used Minecraft to show the impact of environment factors (soil, water and light) on plants growth as well as the related human activities.
We chose a nice place, we used our tools to flatten it and to improve it (by replacing podzol with fertile soil), we made plans for our farm then some of use created the irrigation system while others prepared the soil with hoes and planted the seeds. The harvest was then stored in nicely labelled chests.
Now the kids are waiting impatiently for the animal farming lesson :)

Greetings all.

Greetings all. The incoming batch of #evomc18 co-moderators have submitted a proposal for the next round of EVO sessions. Deadline for submission was extended to Sept 30, so we should be hearing from them shortly.

Meanwhile if you are planning to attend the 2018 TESOL CONFERENCE in Chicago this March, you might want to join Jeff Kuhn, +Aaron Schwartz, and I in our on-site PRESENTATION on EVO Minecraft MOOC at the CALL-IS Electronic Village Tech Fair. All you would need to do is (1) appear with us live in Chicago, (2) talk informally to people about EVOMC18, and (3) maybe push a mouse around a bit on a screen showing Minecraft.

The deadline for adding presenters to the proposal has been extended to Sunday Oct 8, so let us know by then if you can join us.

Here is our proposal summary
Join EVO Minecraft MOOC, in its 4th year as a community of practice, live in Chicago or online in Minecraft. Experience EV participants interacting with community members, controlling avatars in Minecraft, and learning how Minecraft enables language learning. Have your questions answered; even join the community if you wish.

Incidentally, word on the street is that CALL-IS is short of proposals to its on-site EV fairs this year, so chances are higher than usual that yours might be accepted if you can get it in by Oct 8 using the CfP link below. All you have to do is write is a 50 word summary and a 100 word abstract, give your presenter details, and click.
https://call-is.org/ev/

Greetings all.

Greetings all. I woke up yesterday morning at 4:30, struggled to download Minecraft version 1.11.2, and got into the VSTE server just as everyone was leaving. Incoming #evomc18 co-moderator Kimball Harrison a.k.a Kim Harrison informed me I had just missed an awards ceremony where several EVO Minecraft MOOC co-moderators were given awards, as per the link attached. These include #evomc17 outgoing co-moderator Linda Gielen (we're gonna miss her; hope she rejoins us for #evomc19 :-) as well as incoming co-moderators +Dakota Redstone and Beth S O'Connell . Also awarded were the following gamers and greeters at EVO Minecraft MOOC: Maha Abdelmoneim (Maha Abdelmoneim) and Mary O'Brien (aka Mainecakes and Serena Offcourse). Congratulations to all award recipients, and looking forward to working with you in EVO Minecraft 2018.
https://sites.google.com/view/vstesofs17/badges?authuser=0

An interesting debate about the benefits of using Minecraft in schools:

An interesting debate about the benefits of using Minecraft in schools:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/08/11/should-kids-be-taught-in-schools-using-minecraft/
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2017/08/11/should-kids-be-taught-in-schools-using-minecraft/

On Thursday June 22, 2017, Vance and Bobbi Stevens, Domagoj and Marijana Smolcec, Dakotah Redstone, Maha...

On Thursday June 22, 2017, Vance and Bobbi Stevens, Domagoj and Marijana Smolcec, Dakotah Redstone, Maha Abdelmoneim, and Mircea Patrascu appeared in-world in Minecraft as part of an EVO Minecraft MOOC team to give a presentation by all accounts well received at SL MOOC 2017, hosted by Nellie Deutsch - Ed.D, Nan Zingrone and taking place in Second Life. (Beth S O'Connell was planning to join us but was called away at the last minute to a meeting in RL). For details and artifacts from the event, see https://learning2gether.net/2017/06/22/vance-stevens-domagoj-and-marijana-smolcec-dakota-redstone-and-mircea-petrascu-mine-your-language-on-sl-mooc/
https://youtu.be/Nm9qyy_VrjE

#Learning2gether episode 370 is hosting a live stream from the #evomc17 EVO Minecraft MOOC Minecraft server at 1800...

#Learning2gether episode 370 is hosting a live stream from the #evomc17 EVO Minecraft MOOC Minecraft server at 1800 UTC Wed June 21 for practice, and at 1400 UTC on Thu June 22, the real thing with Marijana Smolcec and Beth S O'Connell, at this month's Second Life MOOC. You are all are invited to attend either or both.

Please visit http://tinyurl.com/learning2gether for details on how to join us at Vance's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/vancestev or at http://chatwing.com/vancestev for live online help and guidance.

Also see the #SLMOOC17 program at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DbVPTXUkSlQ3TT6318K5sDJWa5XWTFuEO0LV7MNjERg/edit?usp=sharing for information on how to join this and other events there, now through end of June.

Hi folks, the Tutorial World in Minecraft Education Edition is rife with opportunities to use English, but I find...

Hi folks, the Tutorial World in Minecraft Education Edition is rife with opportunities to use English, but I find that my students often act on instinct, don't read the instructions, and break the tutorial displays before studying them. So I made them a tutorial. Feel free to share, and feedback appreciated.