Recently some of our fourth, fifth and sixth graders had the opportunity to teach teachers from around the world!
The Elisabeth Morrow School was invited to host the kick off event for the Games MOOC
(Massively Open Online Course) weekend focused on using Minecraft in education. We hosted an open house on Morrowcraft , our 24/7 Minecraft server, to showcase student work. Students were in the game to welcome visiting teachers and answer their questions. They were able to participate either from home or school. Ms. Malmstrom and Ms Rolle coordinated the activities at school and Ms. Malmstrom helped facilitate the event both on and off-line.
The logistics of running a MOOC event in real time to such large audiences around the world is quite amazing. Facilitators of the Games MOOC hosted commentary of our live event using a Google Hangout that was simultaneously streamed via YouTube. Participants were able to ask questions in the YouTube chat and the facilitators relayed them back to us in the Google Hangout. This event was also discussed on Twitter using #gamemooc. Two of our sixth graders were also tweeting on behalf of the EMS students. Our guest moderator was Dr. Bronwyn Stuckey from Sydney, Australia.
Our students were so impressive. Several shared how Mrs. Bliesener’s class is using Minecraft this year in social studies. Some students gave tours of all the wonderful things they have built. Others showed how they create circuits with red stone and so much more. Mrs. Goldman and Mr. Baly also contributed their perspective as both educators and parents.
