Minecraft for Teaching Craft, Design and Technology in Primary School

Minecraft has been used for teaching various topics in primary and secondary school for quite some time, especially since 2016 when Minecraft education edition was offered. Research has shown that the game is useful for teaching problem solving, scientific and spatial concepts. This paper aims at investigating what pre-service primary teachers think about using Minecraft for teaching Craft, Design and Technology. All students were introduced to the game in a seminar and designed object which were 3D-printed afterwards. When analyzing the interviews, two groups of students could be identified: Those who would like to use Minecraft in their lessons basically see problems regarding didactics when working with games whereas the group of students who is against using Minecraft focuses more on missing equipment as major problem when working with games. Furthermore, the second group also doubts that children have enough skills to work with Minecraft and would like to have more lectures at university regarding how to use digital media in general. The methodology of digital game-based learning therefore needs to be taught at university colleges for teacher education to show future teachers how they should work with games and to experience themselves how to overcome obstacles like technical problems or under-equipped classrooms.