Minecraft, Fortnite, Pokemon, Nintendo: How are video games being used in education?

Yeungnam University in South Korea held an opening ceremony to welcome their incoming first years recently, but with a twist - the whole event took place on Minecraft!

Using the game's educational platform Education Edition, the ceremony was able to take place in the game, with the students' and teachers' blocky characters representing them.

There was even a fireworks display at the end!

These kinds of virtual workarounds have been seen a lot during the pandemic, but even before Covid, teachers were seeing the value of using some games in the classroom.

Here are a few more examples of times games have been used in schools.

Minecraft Education Edition

Minecraft's educational platform is not only being used for welcoming ceremonies and graduations, but also for day-to-day learning.

When Covid meant learning had to happen from home, some teachers around the world turned to the game to host their lessons.

On top of building normal classrooms, the space in the game can be used to learn about loads of other things - for example one school in Manchester used the game to give Year 7 a virtual tour of the building before they started at the school for the first time.

During the pandemic, the developer Mojang also offered free lessons that kids could use during lockdowns.

Fortnite Creative Mode

Minecraft is an example of a sandbox game, which is one that allows you to be creative without there being any goal or storyline to complete. Often, they're games you can build things in.

Although Fortnite is primarily an online survival game, it also has a sandbox mode called Fortnite Creative.

Some teachers are using this area to create interesting learning environments - the company that owns Fortnite, Epic Games, even has a series of lesson plans that teachers can download to guide them.

For example, one suggests building ancient wonders of the world such as Stonehenge and the Pyramids, and allowing students to explore and learn about them.

Pokemon Go

The augmented reality game Pokémon Go shot to fame in 2016, with people all over the world roaming the streets trying to catch 'em all in their local areas.

And at the time, one school in Australia discovered that playing Pokémon Go helped their autistic students have a better time at school.

The headteacher there said the game helped them go outside and interact with other kids at the school, and he even created a guide for parents that gave them ideas about how to use the game constructively over the holidays.

Nintendo Labo

The game can be used to make little machines, like this mini piano

Augmented reality games are popular in some schools, as they use things in the real world that you can interact with.

One example of this is Nintendo Labo - it's an AR game that allows you to create new games by attaching parts of the console to pieces of cardboard.

The game gives you instructions to assemble things in a fun introduction to engineering.

Careful construction of the Labo built biscuit carriers

Nintendo have provided a few of their consoles and Labo kits to schools across the UK, and one teacher in London used it with his Year 6 class to create little walking robots that carried his biscuits!

"The children are incredibly enthusiastic about being able to play games in lessons," he said.

Do you think video games can help with your education? Have you ever had a console in the classroom? Let us know in the comments.