Tag Archives: minecraft

Both Minecraft and YouTube are ubiquitous in today’s children’s media culture. And like millions of other children, my six-year-old son loves to watch Minecraft videos on YouTube. He frequently watches Grian’s how-to-build-it Minecraft videos. He enjoys the silly antics from Pat and Jen of Gaming with Jen, the husband-and-wife team who produce PopularMMOs. And he loves Stampy Cat—but more on Stampy later. Minecraft-themed YouTube videos are definitely a different genre from the children’s television that I grew up watching! As is…

Steve Isaacs teaches video game design and development to middle school students in New Jersey, and has been recognized as an ISTE Outstanding Teacher this year. Here he shares his experience in developing a curriculum in game design at his school, and offers tips for educators interested in doing so at their own schools.   When I started teaching at William Annin Middle School (WAMS) in 1998, I offered an after school computer club that focused on Game Design and…

Back in January, I joined the Joan Ganz Cooney Center as a Senior Fellow. It is a perfect fit. I’ve been a fan of the Center’s work for a while, writing regularly about its research reports for my Forbes Blog. Many of the folks at the center have also been fans of my work—in particular, the Mindshift Guide to Digital Games and Learning that I created in partnership with the Cooney Center back in 2013-14. I wrote that guide to…

Following Jessica Millstone’s adventure at SXSWEdu, I had the opportunity to attend SXSW Interactive (SXSWi), which united 27,000 individuals hailing from a variety of industries including advertising, gaming, journalism, and aerospace (!). This crowd is extremely diverse compared to when SXSW first started as a music festival and even to several years before, which focused more on software and application development. Not only did the attendees vary, but so did the hundreds of compelling sessions, workshops, keynotes, and networking events…