Dont just Play the Game: Minecraft Coding Camp

Presented by: 

Rebecca Forth, 

Asstistant Director,

Sonoma County

The purpose of this program is to take children from Consumer to Creator & the program has become popular in the Sonoma area. For those of you who do not know what Minecraft is (I have never played it myself) it is game where you create your own world and the only thing you have to do is survive! You mine for things (yes like a miner in a cave- dig, pick, collect) materials and then place those materials in a sequence to create things like a hammer, a knife, a saw and eventually a wall, a house, a fireplace, a city. It is definitely not for everyone but it has taken the gaming world by storm and if you see a child playing a game on an iPad, DS or computer chances are they are playing Minecraft or some variant of.

I think it is interesting to note that this project was born out of Staff Innovation Fund training and what I loved about the workshop is how easy Rebecca made it seem to create a program like this.  I like to think that I am somewhat tech savvy (no where close to Adam, Don, Andrew or Jordan) but I can do things like unplug and plug back in a device, reset a router, and take software that someone else has developed and teach kids how to use that software. But underneath what we see on a computer screen there is what is called source code and this is much different then teaching graphical user interfaces (symbols and pictures you use to manipulate things on your screen). So to me this program seemed intimidating. Before we dive into why this program is a great idea I also want to note that it may not be for every library and there are limitations (stated below).

Rebecca told me it was her first time presenting at conference and from the presentation that would not have been apparent to anyone. She gave the audience everything you need to create this program in your own library and here is what she had to say:

The benefits of providing a program like this are:

• This program incorporates executive level thinking: memory, structure, design, planning,
• Interactive, player driven, encourages creativity and risk taking
• Utilizes the scientific method; one change at a time, make observation, etc.
• It fools children into learning a type of CAD program (computer aided design) ex. Minecraft is used to help rebuild urban areas in real life by having youth render a vision of their city in Minecraft and working with developers and city planners to incorporate those designs elements (http://venturebeat.com/2012/09/05/block-by-block/)
• Minecraft can be used to teach math, science, geography and more (http://services.minecraftedu.com/wiki/Teaching_with_MinecraftEdu#Your_first_lessons)
• Focuses on grammer and syntax: ex. “lets eat grandma”  & "Let’s eat, grandma”

One way to start teaching children how to look at code is to start with what they do know. By taking things in the code like the date of xmas and decrypting what that looks like as source code children can then find other tidbits of information that are familiar to them and figure out the basics of how code works. Here is an example of what source code looks like:

Using quick key commands like "ctrl F" children can search for keywords in the code to determine how the code is sequenced: ex. FIND: “happy birthday Notch” [use ctrl F]

• -NOTE: Notch is the creator of the game and he sends messages to the players (coded in the game-not actual person)

Learning how code works enables children to change elements of the game like the splash screen and other things that you build.

splash screen

Other usefull quick key commands for children to learn: ctrl X, ctrl C, ctrl V, ctrl r


Eventually you can build a home of your own:

or be the ruler of your universe:

Here are the details of what you will need to get started:

Resources from Sonoma County Library: http://sonomalibrary.org/node/21140

*Minecraft licenses

*Minecraft.edu

What Sonoma did:

• Used library laptops (6 total)
• 8 children per session
• Not online during game play
• Had last day speeches by kids in course

-children had to be coached in public speaking skills

-had children practice with small groups first

-Did a run through (program loaded, ready to go, troubleshoot what might occur)

-Stand in back and have kids speak up!

In summation, I think this was a great program and perhaps it is something we can try in the future.