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My ‘Research’ Into Minecraft, Learning, and Zombie Pigmen

By Justin Reich — September 29, 2013 1 min read
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For many months now, I’ve been engaged in a self-directed participant observation project, where I conduct “research” in a single-player survival world of Minecraft. I’ve been meaning to share it for a while, but my Nether mushrooms hadn’t bloomed yet and my agricultural observation monorail wasn’t fully operational.

This week however, my MIT students for current events decided to read a recent piece in the New York Times about Minecraft, and Notch, the creator of Minecraft, was recently honored in MIT Tech Review’s 35 under 35 issue.

So, here is the first and maybe last installment of the EdTech Researcher Video Blog series, a tour of my spawn base in Minecraft and a few thoughts about teaching and learning, while battling creepers and keeping the cows out of my minecarts.

For regular updates, follow me on Twitter at @bjfr and for my publications, C.V., and online portfolio, visit EdTechResearcher.

The opinions expressed in EdTech Researcher are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.