A new report, "How Minecraft Supports Social and Emotional Learning in K–12 Education," published by Getting Smart, investigates the connection between classroom use of Minecraft and the social and emotional learning (SEL) outcomes of K– 12 students. Through interviews, a global survey and several case studies, the report provides an overview of SEL, insights on gaming in education and advice from educators on supporting a SEL program within a school.
Survey findings include:
- Nearly all teachers surveyed (97.7%) cited “problem solving” as the top SEL skill that their students learn from classroom Minecraft lessons and extracurricular participation in the game. Other top skills cultivated include creativity (95.5%), critical thinking (93.3%) and collaboration (91.1%).
- The majority of teachers also felt that their students’ decision-making (88.8%) and communication (86.6%) abilities were positively impacted by the time they spent playing Minecraft, whether working in small groups or individually.
- Just over half (51.1%) believe that Minecraft also enables students to build empathy skills. (This could be due to interactions with classmates, as well as with characters within the game.)
The Minecraft Education Team has a variety of workshops on site at ISTE 2017 June 25-28 in San Antonio. For those #NotAtISTE this year, there will be live streaming content for educators around the globe. Visit this site to learn more: https://education.minecraft.net/events/iste. To learn more, download the report, How Minecraft Supports Social and Emotional Learning in K–12 Education.
