Technical drawing

So for the next year we will try to have a new course to the Business Information Technican (datanom) students. We call it "technical drawing" where we want the students to have a clue of different diagrams and how to produce them in 2D (paper/pencil and maybe some easy digital tool).

The next step, to make them think in a 3D way is to use Minecraft.

And yes. 

I know.

There's better 3D tools, if you want to do 3D, but hey!

First you have to win your students!

First you have to catch their interest!

At the moment we have way too many students playing games during classes. If we take control over one of the games I believe they find the class so interesting they want to participate. 

You have to make your lessons more interesting than games, and so fun they (the students) don't want to do something else but listen to you.

Then, you could apply a more advanced tool: 3D Studio Max or Blender. 

But if you start with a tool way too advance you will loose half of the class immediately, and we're trying to avoid that, remember?

You shouldn't need a course or two just to produce simple 3D stuff. After all, we just want them to try to practice think (and experience) 3D.

Why do something complicated when you can do it easy?

Keep It Simple Stupid!

And I believe one of those ways could be the Minecraft way!

First project about to end

My first Minecraft project is about to end and now I have to sum up what we have learned and what Minecraft could be used to (in my school). And that's a lot. My participants had two goals to reach: build up their school and build a city, if possible - the Future City.

Unfortunately, 16-18 years old are a bit too old to apply sustainable development, ecological thinking and recycling. The only thing that they actually started to think about was green energy, like solar or water. But on the other hand, that gives us a chance to really use Minecraft as a pedagogy tool to explain all this and connect it to chemistry and physics (and biology that you don't read at a upper secondary vocational institution in Finland).

And now the goodies. two of my students have made documentations about this first project as their final project (before their exam). That's really awesome! This first movie is a big one and it contains both projects. The first 8 minutes is about the building process and the ready school building. The other half is the documentation of our city.

My students said they wanted to have the whole documentation in one place and therefor the "second part", like after 8 minutes, is the same as this (below). But I do think this version has better quality, or it could be just me. Funny fact: the indoor swimming pool and the bookstore in the end of the movie are created by my 5 yo daughter AquaVera.

The hospital itself is so fantastic it deserves to be seen as a stand alone clip.

So much more than scale, volume and area

Initially I thought the only thing I could use Minecraft to and connect to education was math. But hey, it's so much more than scale, volume and area! Despite the fact that every wiki is on English (language and ICT) there's really no limits. You can do whatever you want, only your imagination and creativity puts the limits.

I have a couple of students that happens not to be out on work practice, instead they should pass old courses. But, again, the power of Minecraft is so much bigger than school. I thought I had to bring them back to track, to construct something inside Minecraft so much interesting they don't want to continue play. And I thought for myself it will take lots of times to fulfill my challenge.

Well, they did start to solve my challenge, but they did it way too quick and are now back playing survival mode. What was my challenge? Well, I wanted them to figure out how to construct a calculator. I also thought for myself, I guess they have to search and look a couple of YouTube clips before they can start build. I also thought they have 2-3 weeks of work there. Nope, I guess, from nothing to ready they have spend like 1 course/24 lessons on this challenge. And they also both have different solutions! 

They did the constructions all in their heads without any input from a tutorial. They didn't had to since they already had figured out how redstones and command blocks works. I was so amazed when they showed me and the calculators didn't work properly and they immediately started to debug their systems...

The redstone calculator and according to @abrightmore it's electrical engineering (boolean logic, signal strength, toggling states and more) was made like this:

I got very impressed about this calculator because the student who made this, of course he's smart, but I din't expect a redstone calculator from him. And he had some problems getting it started (self confidence) but debugged it and solved the problems while he explained what everything do. This calculator could handle digits up to 100 and return the answer in the scoreboard. 

The other calculator was even more impressive, even though it was made with command blocks (I was expecting redstone solutions). The other guy had made an impressive screen, with digits on a screen (sort of). Then he took me underground and I lost my breath. Lots and lots of command blocks! And he's been doing it with the command block knowledge but without any calculator tutorial! I'm impressed! And I also realized I'm not 20 anymore :P

Math geometry test

Finally I have a math test ready for the students, a test we - the Minecraft allies - all could agree on. I have not yet any experience about MinecraftEDU but in a vanilla server it's pretty hard to make triangles, cylinders and circles. But I solved that part with give the students the solution, instead they have to explain, write down, how you do it. Or more exactly: analyze my solutions.

Some of my fellow teachers went nuts when I told them the test includes eight (8) papers. And because of the eight papers the students must have several hours... eh? what? I have 14 tasks where the first and last is to put yourself in position and record your activity. 

So twelve tasks to go. 

Several hours? 

I think not. 

We're talking about generation G, not ourselves :P

Sharing is caring: Geometry math test

In upper secondary vocational institutions you get the marks

• U0 (underkänd) - FAIL!
• N1 (nöjaktig) - satisfactory
• G2 (godkänt) - approved
• B3 (berömlig) - excellent

Each task should have the mark so the student know how hard the task is and what it's worth.

Okay, so my thought about this test is to include much geometry but also a bit of equations and do it in a fun way. Therefor they have to go to the airport, travel to the math test and begin their journey. Three tasks they have to write down in the booklet so I have just made task numbers without workspace here and there. They will have workspace both in the paper copy (that's why it's eight pages) as well in Minecraft.

I only have them one by one, these students, so therefor I can use this single map (sort of) to everyone. I only have to clear their sketches now and then :D

I will have two full scale tests next week: the student with dyscalculia (I'm sure he will pass on N1) and one lazy non-motivated student that now works harder than ever...

Struggling with dyscalculia

I have this student who is very weak in math and before my first meeting with him one "higher educated pedagogy" told me it's enough if I can learn him to use a calculator. But hey!? If you don't understand what 10+10 is, what sense does a calculator do? 

Everything I tried the first two months was too hard and finally I thought the only was to solve this is so start from the beginning. Back to the basics.

A couple of months ago I realized what the challenge was, like a year too late.

Dyscalculia.

Well, I've learned a lot and I do hope this student have learned something. Now I try to help him with geometry and for the first time I hav e faith. The key to success spells: Minecraft.

Addition is the favourite but he hates subtraction. 
And if I only had knew, Minecraft would have spared us much struggling and troubles if I had started with it before. Today we have been talkiing and discussed volume and cubes. If the area is 16 blocks, what's the volume??

Volume = a * a * a --> 4 * 4 * 4 = way too hard!

So we had to do it the long way, with addition, and also build up the cube and destroy it. Just to prove we have make the math correctly.

But finally, with the awesome tool Minecraft he finally gets it because he see it. In a way he experience the math in 3D. And these small moments, when I see he understands a bit here and there, it encourage me to continue.

Unfortunately, because he makes progress I also became too ambitious. Even though he loves to be creative, loves to paint, loves motorcycles, pixelart was way too hard
:( 

Geometry in Minecraft

OK, so today I've had a couple of groups who has been learning math throu Minecraft. And again, the most awesome things happens. We usually have 45 min classes, most of my students has problems with their concentration. Well, they sit at my classes till I tell them they have to go... So, I've succeed make math so fun they don't want to quit. In fact, I've succeed with this math mission so well the students ask me for more sessions - even if it's on their sparetime. As today.

They also do something that I've never experienced before: they shake my hand and thanks for the class... some of them do it the gangsta style, but hey - they show what it means. And the gangsta way, that's respect.

And as Gabe Zichermann explains (don't remember if it's this clip or another) the students explains it with two words, it is

1. Fun
2. Multiplaying

So today I had this guy who tries to pass an old course. Math for this guy is booooooooring. Ok, so he came before the class started. We talked about last lesson, what he missunderstood and what he had to do to make it better next time. And he started to do his tasks. In mid time when I asked if he needed a break (he refused!) I also asked what he's learning and why? Or do I fool myself make him play a game...

While he continue build he explained:

• I have to count all the time, I can't relax, I have to think about math all the time. How many blocks from here to there, up, sides and so on...
• I create a model of my task at the same time.
• I can directly see if I've done something wrong in my calculations and change it.
• I can, whenever I want or need, control myself. Back a bit and reflect to my self: is this realistic?
• I practice my skills to imagine something 2D into 3D

Later he actually proved this when I wanted him to do the task with the red dice with white spots. Because I showed him some different ways how to make that work, where the sides could be 5, 7 or 9 blocks.

He made it with 10 blocks. He realized he had to build a bit more but it would be much easier to do the counting afterwards: perimeter, area and volume.

I also did a personal reflection: he has started to make notes on paper and also started to make a sketch at his paper before he starts to build his tasks... And please remember, he doesn't like math. And now he's learning without thinking!

Gameschool

So finally we're about to start a game school, an introduction to make games, at our school (a secondary vocational institution). The tool we're going to use is CraftStud.io but our students will also learn something about

• Dramaturgy
• Aspect ratio
• Creative writing
• Audio

This is the first but hopefully not the last time time we try (do) this. 

I'm just about to create a Google+ group for this purpose when something hit me: what if we try to do the group in English (instead of Swedish)?

Would an English spoken group attract collaborators from outside our school and outside Finland?