Digging Deeper: Learning and Re-Learning with Student and Teacher Minecraft Communities

Minecraft has become well established in the world of education. Around the world, the game is being used in a variety of educational settings for virtual project work and as a virtual world for collaboration and social interaction. Minecraft is an activity players want to talk about. It is a game they want to learn more about. In order to do these things, the player has a strong motivation to communicate and interact with the multitude of resources at their disposal. It was the desire of English language learners to learn more about the game that first attracted the author to Minecraft as a potential educational tool. The author describes his experiences using Minecraft in Turkey and Gabon, as well as with the Electronic Village Online (EVO) Minecraft MOOC. He shares his reflections on what Minecraft can teach us about learning.