The introduction of technology has brought about positive effects in several aspects of our lives and across multiple industries. The financial industry — which is the biggest industry in the world — has experienced immense growth since the advent of digital technologies. The same goes with the manufacturing industry, the education industry, the defence industry, the agricultural industry, and the list goes on.

While the effects of technology in these industries seem crystal clear, there is one other very popular industry: the gaming industry. The gaming industry is fast-growing industry, and we can confidently attribute its fast-paced growth to technological advancement.

Here are some of features of technology in the gaming industry:

1. 3D graphics

In the early days of the Internet, online games — based on two-dimensional graphics — had features that made them far from exciting. Fast forward several years later.  3D graphics and special effects changed the gaming experience. Games became more realistic and relatable, increasing the fun and excitement for players. Aside from changing the landscape of games, the invention of 3D graphics also created new instruments for developing realistic textures, computing physical features, and facilitating in-game interactions between objects. On the other hand, special effects brought about a unique vibe to gaming, making it possible for players to submerge themselves in the online gaming world.

2. Games bring people together.

Online gaming, no doubt, has served as a unique means of connecting individuals from several parts of the world. The Internet has made it possible for individuals to team up and complete a mission in unison. Games such as Monopoly have allowed individuals to play with their buddies virtually. Tech advancement has also made it possible to enhance games. For instance, with the help of tools like Minecraft mod packs, the popular Minecraft game can be made more exciting and enjoyable.

3. Easier and faster payment

For games that require funds transfer, such as online casinos, technology has made it possible for players to initiate transactions while concealing their identity. If technology hadn’t been introduced to conceal vital information about players’ transactions, fraud would definitely be rampant, and the gaming realm wouldn’t have become what it is now.

4. Smartphones technology and gaming apps

Gone are the days when you needed to sit behind your huge laptop to enjoy your favourite game. Today, smartphone technology and gaming apps have allowed you to enjoy your favourite game even while emptying your bowel.

Smartphones have replaced (to an extent) the need to have games on your laptop or computers due to the convenience and portability it brings. You can easily fit your device in your pocket and enjoy your favourite game round the clock, anywhere you desire.

Concluding thoughts…

Technology, no doubt, has helped to revolutionise several industries, including the $173.70 billion worth gaming industry. Like it has in other industries, technology has added a whole new dimension to the gaming industry. Certainly, as it advances, we look forward to seeing more of its effects in this industry.

Minecraft is what is known as a ‘sandbox’ or ‘open world’ video game in which players roam and create within a virtual world.  Players walk around, jump, dig and punch things with their hand as they build, mine or farm resources.  By allowing users to build and explore as they choose, Minecraft can be used as an immersive learning platform to extend and enrich the curriculum.  For most educators the use of Minecraft might seem like an intimidating idea, especially since many students are experts with this platform!  Nevertheless, the skills and knowledge that students can bring to Minecraft should be seen as benefit.

In all the lessons that I have taught using Minecraft for example, students are very engaged and work collaboratively on the tasks set.  However, no matter what their skill level might be, it’s important to communicate some ground rules beforehand related to digital citizenship, i.e. about behaving appropriately in a digital space.  Just as students would follow rules about how to behave in the real world, they should understand that similar rules apply in their Minecraft world.  They should not, for instance, damage one another’s building efforts, nor should they communicate online (using Minecraft’s chat function) in a way that is inappropriate.

Fortunately, since 2011, MinecraftEdu has been developed specifically for use in the classroom context.  The MinecraftEdu platform retains the key elements of the original Minecraft while including additional features that facilitate its use in the classroom.  Key additional features allow the teacher to control what students are doing in the Minecraft world.  Students can be muted or frozen, for example.  In so doing, MinecraftEdu platform can be used to teach a range of skills and subjects from maths to humanities and social sciences.

Below, I have attached a PDF of the lesson plans that can be used to teach students about building an environmentally friendly city, which we used for our IPC unit on Climate Control.  These lesson plans can easily be adapted for literacy, to help spark students’ imagination.  For example, following Mr P’s lesson ideas, we also got our students designing Kensuke’s Kingdom using Minecraft.  Once students had completed their collaborative virtual kingdom, they were asked to take screenshots and upload these screenshots to their digital portfolios.  This is particularly useful for promoting students’ creative writing skills, as they can then be asked to write a description of the world they have created.

[embeddoc url=”https://technologyforlearners.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Class-4-Building-an-Environmentally-Friendly-City-Minecraft.pdf”]

Last week our school had its first official Technology Week, which gave teachers and students the opportunity to use new technologies both within their Computing & ICT lessons and across the school curriculum.  As part of this event, I delivered assemblies to highlight the new technologies that we’ve been using, showcase students’ work and award prizes.

This trailer provides a glimpse of what we did during the week.

The following new technologies were used by teachers and students:

1. Dash & Dot – Programmable robots that provide coding challenges for all ages, the video below shows one example of how students have been using this technology.

2. 3D Doodler Pens – These pens rapidly melt and cool plastic, enabling the user to literally draw 3D models.  We used the GooDee 3D Printer Pen model, and our students had great fun building 3D shapes and hipster glasses.

3. Adobe Voice – This iPad app has been used successfully across our school to create digital biographies.  Easy to use, students just record their voiceovers one slide at a time.  During students’ English lessons, they used the app to put together biographies of famous mathematicians and scientists.  The video below shows a couple of examples.  

4. Makey Makeys – Turning anything that conducts electricity into a remote control, these tools have proved to be brilliant for teaching students about electrical circuits.  Students particularly enjoyed creating a remote control out of playdoh to use with Kodu.

5. Picoboards – Circuitboards that contain several sensors (including sound, light and motion), these tools are accessories for Scratch.  Using the picoboards, our students created several programs that respond to the external world.

6. Plickers – A simple teaching tool that collects realtime assessment data of students’ answers to multiple choice questions.  Our maths coordinator used this tool on his smartphone to scan students’ answers to multiple choice questions.  At the end of the quiz, students were able to see their results from the quiz projected on the whiteboard.

7. Osmo Apps – A fantastic accessory for the iPad, these apps help to bridge the digital world with the physical world, providing students with some challenging puzzles.  Tangram was particularly well received by students.

8. Minecraft – Students created virtual worlds, which posed different maths problems.  By creating various digital artefacts in Minecraft like walls, swimming pools and water fountains, the students made signposts with different questions about shapes.

 9. Google Sheets (for collaborative shape investigation) – Making use of the chrome books, students have been able to work in groups of three or four to complete a mini-project with shapes.

10. Augmented Reality – The augmented reality apps have been used a lot by students in all sorts of different ways – for example, to develop vocabulary, learn about space and develop their understanding of shapes.  

11. Purple Mash software (2DIY 3D & 2Design & Make) – Particularly useful for the younger students, these two Purple Mash apps have been brilliant for helping to develop their spatial awareness and understanding of nets & shapes.  

12. 3D Cube Printer – Having designed a 3D badge in Sketchup to mark our Technology Week, we were able to 3D print many of these to award to students for their work with technology.