John Miller's Approach to Learning Using Minecraft and Blogs

Miller's Approach

John Miller, an innovative seventh grade history teacher, loves to motivate his students with technology. He sees technology as an essential part of instruction in today's classrooms to teach real-world skills, hold students' interest in academic content, and to encourage their creativity.

Miller believes that students have tuned out of education because teachers have lost sight of what makes students interested in learning. He sees technology as the solution, since most of his students are regular users of on-line content, whether as a learning resource, or for entertainment.

"We have to go where they are if we want them to learn," Miller said. "It's a bit of a challenge for us older folks, but the payoff is tremendous."

One of the ways he "brings 'em in" is through blogging. Now that the blogging platforms have become more user-friendly, he says it is easy for teachers and students to communicate back and forth, whether at school or from home. He suggests using Kidblogs or Edublogs  as great resources, both of which use the Wordpress platform.

Miller said he "loves blogging with students" and regularly uses it as an outlet for their work. He puts them through "blogging bootcamp" at the beginning of the year so that they will "learn the ropes" that will keep them engaged all year.

"Blogging changes the way you look at your students, and it changes the way students look at the world," Miller said.

Miller also is an avid user of Mine Craft. Not only is he a regular player, he's found a way to use it as a great resource to motivate his students about history.

"Minecraft gets kids into a virtual world where they build their own creative worlds, and demonstrate what they have learned," he said. Miller uses the site as a source for quest-based learning in which students apply their knowledge of the concepts they have learned to create historical worlds.

Miller said the benefits of using Minecraft in the classroom are many. It teaches students to "follow the parameters of the game, be creative to survive under difficult circumstances, and develop patience through challenges," he said.

Reflection on Miller's Approach

As a teacher, I am glad to know that there is yet another way to pique students' interest in learning difficult, and sometimes dry, content. As I continue to learn from educators such as Miller, I am becoming increasingly motivated to incorporate more technology into my classroom "bag of tricks." I can definitely see the benefits of encouraging students to blog--especially for those students who are very reluctant to share their ideas out loud during classroom discussions. However, I'm not much of a "gamer," and I don't think Mine Craft is something that I'd use as part of a lesson. I don't think I have the interest or patience to learn all the ins-and-outs of the program. However, I do admire Miller's enthusiasm to try new things in class, and I have real respect for someone who is so dedicated to motivating his students to learn content that they may have otherwise ignored.