LearnToMod For Educators

Welcome! Introduce Yourself!
Welcome to the first week of LearnToMod for Educators! This is going to be an exciting, self-paced course where you will get an introduction to the popular world of Minecraft through the context of teaching programming. This course is meant to be very hands on, as the best way to learn how to program AND how to play Minecraft is to do it! What this means is that there won't be a lot of lectures from us; instead, we will start you off and you will explore the software and assignments on your own. Through this course, you will not only gain your own programming and Minecraft skills, but also learn effective ways to engage your students in programming topics. In this module, we introduce you to the importance of programming in every student's career, and ask you to introduce yourself to the rest of the class!

Exploring Minecraft and LearnToMod for Education
Now is the time to get excited! In this module you will get an introduction to the two pieces of software that you are going to be using, Minecraft and LearnToMod! The goal of the first set of lessons in this module is to familiarize yourself with Minecraft and the reasons why it is such a popular game for players as well as educators. In the second set of modules, you'll be introduced to the interactive LearnToMod software. The great part about this software is that you can use it with or without Minecraft! We have built an in-browser IDE so you do not need to purchase Minecraft to be able to use it yourself, or with your students!

Optional: Using Minecraft
This is an optional module for those of you interested in using the LearnToMod software with actual Minecraft (as well as just playing Minecraft). You have two options - purchasing Minecraft, or trying it out for the 30-day free trial. If you decide to purchase it, make sure you only buy the version available for the PC or Mac; the LearnToMod software is not compatible with the Pocket Edition, the Windows 10 Edition, or any other versions of the game on gaming consoles or set-top boxes. Furthermore, you are encouraged to watch these accompanying videos even if you are not planning on purchasing Minecraft, just to get a better idea of the gameplay and experience.

Micro-Programming Assignments (Badges)
Now that you are familiar with the LearnToMod software a little, here's your chance to learn some programming and test it out in our Minecraft Simulator, or in Minecraft! This module will guide you through the Learner Focused part of the software, the badge system. Badges are "micro programming assignments" that introduce programming and Minecraft topics like iteration, conditional statements, and variables. The way we guide you through this module is similar to how I could guide my students! At the end of this module, you are asked to complete at least 40 badges in the LearnToMod software. Feel free to ask questions on the Help Forum. We recommend reading the Peer Review Assignment before earning all 40 badges, so that you can better understand your goals. HAPPY MODDING!

The LearnToMod Curriculum
Congratulations! You are officially a LearnToMod Minecraft Modder! How exciting! This is actually a huge feat; even though the LearnToMod software guides you through a safe environment, you have just learned the basics of programming! In this module, you will get a chance to play around with different ways of teaching programming using the LearnToMod software. We recognize that your interests, teaching styles, and students are varied and diverse and, while we provide you with some example lesson plans, activities, and rubrics, we encourage you to personalize what you learn in this course when you bring it back to the classroom. So in this module you will also have a chance to do that, and to give and get feedback from your classmates!

Continue Contributing to the LearnToMod Educators Community
Now that you are an official LearnToMod Minecraft Modder, and you have reviewed and written your own LearnToMod Lesson Plans and Classroom Activities, you can officially say you are a LearnToMod Educator! CONGRATULATIONS! As you go out and begin teaching, we want to make sure that you never lose your support from this large and growing community. We encourage you to come back to this course, to this module, and share your experiences, give advice, and see new updates to the software and curriculum that is available to you! Learning and Teaching is a lifelong experience, and we are so glad that you have taken the first step in this specific topic with us!