One of the activities for this week was to create a learning space on Minecraft, which was a nice challenge as I had never used Minecraft before. I really enjoyed building a learning space within Minecraft, since the possibilities are almost endless. I decided to make a treehouse as a learning space, for several reasons. Firstly because I like the idea of a learning space being high up, since it gives you an overview of the surroundings and I think learning is often about creating an overview of the knowledge you gather. Secondly the idea of a treehouse is a fun and adventurous one and I think that can also be seen as a metaphor for learning. Lastly, I choose a treehouse simply because it is possible to be creative when building in Minecraft and although it relates to reality, it is possible to use ‘Minecraft Expressionism’ to create your own version of reality within Minecraft. (Ford et al. 2018)

Figure 1. The three story treehouse

As figure 1 shows, the tree house is situated in the cold part of the IDEL Minecraft world. As I was exploring the world and getting used to the controls, I found several high trees in this area and decided to build my tree house here. One of the things I really like about Minecraft is that even though the map of the world that you immerse yourself in is static, it feels dynamic because of the use of the weather and change of light from day to night. In this part of the map, the snow slowly covers everything, including the treehouse.

Level 1, as can be seen in figure 2, is the first thing I created and therefore a basic structure. Whilst building this, I was still in reality mode, you could say. I was building along the lines of the idea of a treehouse as it can be found in the real world.

Figure 2. Level 1

Level 2, as seen in figure 3, is a lot more creative. I added bookcases to reflect a more traditional idea of learning and teaching, but there is still enough glass on this level to look around and see the world. There is a crafting table which is used in Minecraft to upgrade or magically enhance weapons and armour, which I have used as a metaphor for technology. Technology is used in education and shaped by educators and learners alike and vice versa which is represented here as a physical table. In the corner is a chest which contains various objects, which I have used to represent the unexpected nature of learning; you never know what you might find.

Figure 3. Level 2

While I was building Level 2, I was quite taken by the glass blocks and panels and I decided to extend level 2 by creating another level on the side, almost entirely out of glass, as can be seen in figure 4. Here is the sense of getting an overview is even more obvious because of the use of glass. One of the things I really like about this, is that I would never even entertain such a structure in real life as I have vertigo, but in this virtual world, that is obviously not an issue. Building and thinking about a space like this, away from our physical reality, allows for a greater sense of freedom. But at the same time, Minecraft has been created in such a way that it is very close to reality so you feel like you are ‘seeing double’ in a way very similar to the description in Bayne’s article (2015).

In the middle of level 2a, I have created a depression in the platform, also out of glass, which I filled up with water with the intention to add fish and other sea life. Although a virtual world, Minecraft has been created in such a way that what happens within its worlds is influenced by weather and day light, as I mentioned above. What I hadn’t realised is that this also stopped me from creating a pond in the winter area: the water froze and my fish died. I then changed tack and added grass and some farm animals instead. I like the way Minecraft enforces some reality into the virtual world that you have to adapt too.

Figure 4. Level 2a

This exercise of creating a learning space within Minecraft has really made me think about how we use space, both real and virtual and how many forms a learning space can take.

Sian Bayne (2015) Teacherbot: interventions in automated teaching, Teaching in Higher Education, 20:4, 455-467, DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2015.1020783 (p 455-457)

Flint, T., Hall, L., Stewart, F. & Hagan, D. (2018). Virtualizing the real: a virtual reality contemporary sculpture park for children. Digital Creativity, 29, pp. 191-20

The three story treehouse / Femke Morrison / An introduction to digital environments for learning (2020/2021)[SEM2] by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0