Minecraft Mentors Develop Connected Learning Through Engagement in an Affinity Space

• In Event: 66.070 - Connected Learning in Teacher Education

Abstract

Minecraft has become a critical tool for learning for many classrooms, connecting students and teachers in game-based activity (Dikkers, 2015; Kafai & Burke, 2016). This session shares findings from a mixed-method research study that investigated experiences and perceptions of participants within Microsoft Education’s competitively selected 2018 Global Minecraft Mentor program, which included 341 educators from over 70 countries. We explored experiences of mentors within this space, entry points to onboard teachers who have little or no background in adapting Minecraft to their classrooms, and the extent to which connected learning principles manifest in the mentoring space.

The Global Minecraft Mentor program is a uniquely structured professional learning network bringing together teacher-users and educational leaders to support integration of Minecraft Education Edition in learning contexts. This is no current research regarding the mentoring model used by Microsoft and Minecraft, which appears to be unique in structure; and little research about teacher learning in game-based environments (Squire, 2011). This paper specifically addresses two research questions associated with our research project:

What are the experiences of the mentors within the Global Minecraft Mentor Program?
To what extend do those in the Global Minecraft Mentor Program embody Connected Learning Principles?

Our research applied concepts of affinity spaces and connected learning principles as a theoretical framework. According to Gee (2007), affinity spaces are locations where groups of people are drawn together because of a shared, strong interest or engagement in a common activity. Additionally, connected learning (Author, 2017; Garcia, 2014) is used as a perspective for understanding the mentor-mentee peer relationships developing for the achievement in academic contexts surrounding a game-based environment.

Because an emerging phenomenon was studied, theoretical sampling was selected as the method for participant recruitment. Theoretical sampling studies “incidents, slices of life, time periods, or people on the basis of their potential manifestation or representation of important theoretical constructs” (Patton, 2001, p. 238). An explanatory sequential design included survey questions, followed by semi-structured interviews to capture individual experiences. Descriptive statistics and qualitative coding were used for analysis.

Data collection and analysis began with quantitative data collection and descriptive statistical analysis, followed by quantitative findings that informed the qualitative semi-structured interviews and analysis. The qualitative phase of mixed method research used data analysis procedures consistent with an interpretivist model of qualitative research. Utilizing a constant comparative analysis of the data being collected (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), artifacts, screenshots and process notes were read as they were generated and again at the end of the data collection period. The three-step process of open coding, axial coding and selected coding as described by Strauss and Corbin (1998) was conducted to construct assertions and understand the relationships among sets of data.

Findings may be significant in furthering our academic understanding about connected learning, and the results provide valuable information for developers and administrators on how to support teachers in an online affinity space. It shares insights into what and how teachers need support for adopting innovative pedagogical practices and applying them in their teaching and student-learning contexts.

Authors

• Matthew Farber, University of Northern Colorado

• Mia Kim Williams, University of Northern Colorado