Is Minecraft a Legitimate Teaching Tool?

If you've ever contemplated using Minecraft in your classroom, our guest will get you excited about the possibilities and point you in the right direction. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @mr_isaacs @PBJellyGames @bamradionetwork Garrett Zimmer is a Minecraft Expert and consultant for applications of Minecraft in Education, Entertainment, and Marketing and has spent the last four years using Minecraft as a tool for these areas, on top of Founding MineGage a Minecraft Game-Based Learning company. His passion for education is reflected in his approach and accomplishments such as being recently recognized as a Top 10 Minecraft Educator.

Join us as we expand our thinking about how game-based learning can effectively make learning math engaging and entertaining. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @mr_isaacs @randybw15 @bamradionetwork Randy Weiner is a former teacher, father, co-founder and former Board Chair at Urban Montessori Charter School in Oakland, CA - the nation's only public Montessori, Design Thinking and Arts Integration model. He is also a co-founder and the CEO at BrainQuake, a nationally recognized and award-winning math education company, who generated the App for Wuzzit Trouble.

Our guest introduces us to some of the fundamentals of how games can be used to effectively engage students and drive learning. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @mr_isaacs @MMMooshme @bamradionetwork Barry Joseph is the associated director for digital learning at the American Museum of Natural History. He "does things with games."

ARG is an acronym for alternate reality games. Learn how teachers are using this powerful gaming model to engage students in riveting learning experiences. Follow: @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @@mr_isaacs @bamradionetwork John Fallon is an Upper School English teacher at Fairfield Country Day School in Fairfield CT. He designs alternate reality games for his classroom and believes that game based learning is a crucial best practice for modern education. He also likes games. A lot. Steve Isaacs has been teaching game design and development at William Annin middle school in Basking Ridge, NJ and online for Virtual High School for years.He is the co-founder and moderator of the weekly #EdTechBridge chat and also a founding member of the games4ed initiative.

Interactive fiction is a powerful way to grab students' attention and teach critical thinking across various content areas. Follow: @autnes @kzenovka @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Jim Pike is the creator of Mathcraft, a curriculum that teaches Common Core Math with Minecraft. He is also a 5th grade teacher at Albert Einstein Academy of Beverly Hills and Director of Game-Based Learning at CodeRev Learning Centers. http://mathcraftplc.com/

Learn how collaborating with game developers to design and test games is a powerful way to engage and support powerful learning experiences. Follow: @autnes @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Jeff Brain is a project-based technology integrated middle school teacher in northern California. He has been incorporating comics and games into curriculum design for most of his twenty-plus year teaching career.misterbrain.weebly.com jeffbrainart.com brainconferencematerials.weebly.com

Most agree that we need to reimagine the way teacher professional development is done but is gamification the answer? Follow: @lucasgillispie @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Lucas Gillispie is an Instructional Technologist for Pender County Schools in North Carolina. He is the founder of the WoWinSchool Project, a program designed to explore the educational potential of online games like World of Warcraft with middle schoolers and leads one of the largest school-based Minecraft implementations in the world. Lucas is an internationally recognized speaker, and shares his experiences and resources on his blog: http://www.edurealms.com.

Our guest shares insights about how playful learning can help offset historical disparities in the classroom. Follow: @remiholden @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Remi Holden is an Assistant Professor of Information and Learning Technologies at the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Education and Human Development. Remi plays at the intersection of the learning sciences and teacher education, where he designs novel environments and experiences for educators across multiple settings, practices, and disciplines.

Our kids are playing Minecraft, watching Minecraft videos and making Minecraft videos. Today we explore whether or not Minecraft is a viable teaching tool. Follow: @Gridjumper @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Tanya Martin is a gamer, teacher, professional developer,and game-based learning advocate. She is the Professional Development Chair for ISTE's Game and Simulation Network and coordinates the EduMachinima Fest, a game-based strategy for demonstrating student learning.

Our guest shares her seven-point strategy for creating effective game-based lesson plans. Follow: @instituteofplay @MatthewFarber @mrmatera @bamradionetwork Shula Ehrlich is a designer and educator living in Brooklyn, New York. Holding an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons The New School for Design, Ehrlich is currently Lead Game Designer at Institute of Play, a New York based non-profit design studio that leverages the power of games and play to make learning irresistible. Shula's passions are around engaging people (of all ages) through games and reintroducing the fun back into learning!