The Controversy Surrounding The Use Of Minecraft In The Classroom

Video games are very popular in the media for causing an increase in aggression and acts of violence in teens, but can this medium of leisure be as destructive on the adolescent mind and behavior as claimed? In 1972, the first home video game was released. Magnavox’s Odyssey became popular quickly because it was the closest home video game to the famous arcade game Pong. A short time later in 1976, the home video game Death Race made its debut and enraged many consumers. (1) The violence in this reckless driving game came too fast and too soon. From then on, there has always been controversy surrounding video games. Although there is much speculation surrounding the link between playing video games and violence, their implementation could benefit

Daniel Short wrote an article about the various uses of Minecraft in the classroom. This is an open world game in which players do not have a set goal, rather they are able to explore and build whatever they wish. Because this game is so open, there are a lot of modifications that are able to be added in the name of education, such as MinecraftEDU (2). In the article, Dr. Short focused on five different topics in science: Biology, Ecology, Physics, Chemistry, and Geology and Geography. In my adolescent academic career, I had Biology, Physics, and Chemistry classes, so adolescent classrooms would be focusing on those topics the most as compared to Ecology or Geology and

The University of Malta conducted a study in which parents, students, and teachers were surveyed on the idea of using video games in the classroom. Although I thought many students would be in favor of using video games in the classroom, I did not expect the percentages of parents and teachers who agree. 79.1% of students were in favor of the use of video games as a learning tool, 77.5% of teachers were in favor, and 82.7% of parents were also in favor (5). If a majority of parents, students, and teachers support the use of video games in the classroom as a learning tool, then it should be implemented more in lessons. Students would be more motivated to learn, thus making teachers more excited to teach. When I was a child, I would play games like First In Math in school and I always looked forward to playing. I liked to play because it was fun, but teachers liked it because the students were learning while enjoying themselves. As a future teacher, I would love to find a way to have my students love learning. If video games were the answer, then I would have no problem including them in my