Esports and Minecraft Education
Educators who are familiar with esports, won’t be surprised to learn that Minecraft isn’t a typical esports title. In fact, if you ask students if they’ve ever used Minecraft to play esports they are likely to tell you that’s not what Minecraft is for! Why then, are we introducing Minecraft Education for Esports?
There are three very compelling arguments for using Minecraft Education for Esports:
1. Minecraft is a familiar digital environment for students.
Minecraft is a well-established game and students are familiar with playing it. They understand the in-game mechanics and have mastered basics of moving around and navigating. This familiarity creates a safe space for learning new skills and a great a practice ground to fail forward.
2. Minecraft Education has been especially designed for learning.
Minecraft Education has been designed with special teacher and student features to enable educators to get the most out of learning. It is purposefully non-violent, and doesn’t support the gory elements that you may find in other games. This makes Minecraft Education an excellent introductory tool for students’ first steps into esports.
3. Minecraft is the ulimate tool for developing creativity and creative thinking.
In this sense it is unique with reference to other esports titles, since it invites players to design, create, build, and code their own game experiences. It is our aspiration for these resources, that once students have become familiar with the game-play (rules and roles), and the game mechanics (scoring, timers, etc), they will begin to create their own esports gaming experiences in Minecraft. This move from students as consumers of games to students as creators of games signifies a transformative shift evident of the high-level creative, critical and computational thinking demanded in 21st century workplaces.
To support the development of esports with students in the classroom, Minecraft Education has developed 13 different Minecraft Worlds that enable organised, competitive and collaborative play in your classroom. The worlds are categorised under three genres:
Build Battles – a platform for creative, collaborative and competitive engagement. The Build Battles category includes practice maps for up to 12 teams, a competition arena for six teams, and a series of two-team Make & Model amps. These exciting sports worlds promote social-emotional skills and new pathways for learning and assessment.
Presently, there are six maps in this category. All maps are available in the in-game Lesson Library, under the Esports area, a central hub that simplifies the process of finding and importing educational content directly within the game.
Build Battle titles:
Speed Runs – In Speed Runs, players compete in high-energy racing against the clock to complete tasks. It’s not just about speed; it’s about smart thinking and problem-solving. This blend of fast-paced competition and immersive learning is where strategy, creativity and quick thinking are the keys to victory.
Presently, there is one map in this category. Again, this is located in the Esports area of the in-game Lesson Library.
Speed Runs Title:
Challenge Series – build your posts skills with a variety of Minecraft challenges designed to strengthen building, creativity, problem-solving, coding and teamwork skills. Use the arena template to introduce players to team play and foster a sense of healthy competition among students.
Presently, there are six maps in this category. Again, these are located in the Esports area of the in-game Lesson Library.
Challenge Series Titles:
Esports Challenge Arena
Skills Challenge 1
Skills Challenge 2
Skills Challenge 3
Skills Challenge 4
Skills Challenge 5
