Speakers
Santeri Koivisto
Co-founder CEO of TeacherGaming LLCSanteri Koivisto is a co-founder CEO of TeacherGaming LLC, the company that developed MinecraftEdu and aims to change how the world is looking at games in education. Santeri, the son of a teacher and an entrepreneur, was one of the small percentage of applicants accepted into teacher training at University of Eastern Finland and got a Master in Applied Education. As an avid gamer he was disappointed by the quality of educational games on the market, and decided to try a different approach.
Rather than inventing new games that mimicked traditional pedagogy, he wanted to start with what was already an immensely popular game – Minecraft – and stretch it to work for education. Because the game already connected with kids, the MinecraftEdu learning version had a built-in audience. MinecraftEdu is a school-ready remix of the original smash hit game Minecraft. Today more than 15,000 schools in 40+ countries have used MinecraftEdu to teach subjects from STEM to Language to History to Art and more. In 2016 Microsoft acquired MinecraftEdu from TeacherGaming LLC and is now continuing the story!
Santeri's most recent project is 5 More Minutes Ltd aiming to use the understanding accumulated during previous project to create even more sophisticated solutions for games in learning including learning analytics.
Workshop: Coding in Minecraft
ComputerCraftEdu is a free mod that everyone can download for their own PC/Mac/Linux Minecraft. Join the workshop to learn how young kids can access small robot helpers and start learning code. The workshop will start from the very basics, so now prior knowledge of coding is required. We will also look the topic through teacher's eye and debate how CCEdu could be used in a classroom to get kids more active and learning more meaningful.
We shall also get hands-on experience with syntax coding for construction and building engineering projects using command blocks and redstones on a proprietary platform developed by a leading Minecraft education service provider in Asia
Mark Nagurski Co-Founder, CEO, MAKEMATIC
CEO, MAKEMATICMark is the co-founder of MakeMatic, an educational content company working across the creative, cultural and technology sectors. MakeMatic is building an innovative content network to ensure every young person has the opportunity to learn creative and digital skills, using engaging tools like Minecraft. Previously Mark was CEO of CultureTECH, one the largest family-focused technology events in Europe. He was responsible for introducing Minecraft into all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland and has developed Minecraft education projects with government agencies, brands and the arts/cultural sector. Programmes he has designed have been featured in The Guardian, BBC, Forbes and The Economist.
Workshop: Designing Educational Content in Minecraft
In this workshop, Mark Nagurski will share his experience of developing engaging educational content using a range of creative and technology tools, including Minecraft. He’ll discuss how Minecraft can be combined with traditional classroom activities for effective blended learning experiences, and map some of the practical considerations every educator should address whether they’re designing for a single class or an entire country. In the second half of the workshop, participants will work together in teams to design their own Minecraft classes, for both formal and informal learning, before sharing their ideas with the group.
Johan Kruger
Consulting Educational Game Creator - DragNOZJohan Kruger, better known as Dragnoz, is a YouTube personality and Educator that uses Minecraft in numerous high profile educational projects. From the Webby nominated STEM learning “Wonder Quest” series aimed at 7-10 year olds, to United for Wildlife’s nature conservation Minecraft project “We are the Rangers”. Dragnoz started out as an artist but soon transferred those skills into programing, which inevitably led to games in education. He is a lifelong learner, father of two inquisitive boys and strongly believes that the future of education lies in engaging kids in the worlds, virtual or real, that they inhabit.
Workshop: Custom STEM learning using in game programing
Minecraft PC edition offers a custom in-game coding language that can be used by you or your students, to enhance, manipulate or change the game without leaving the Minecraft world. In the workshop we will explore some of the coding techniques, tips and tricks to create custom learning experiences for your STEM educational projects. The first part of the workshop we will look the various coding points within the game such as: Redstone, Commandblocks, JSON Titles / books and 3D JSON Models. We will also look at which Minecraft Platform offers each of these points. Next we will build a brief project based around one of the STEM subjects. The subject will be down to group vote / suggestion. In the past we have created dynamic functional water cycles, multi-entity living breathing ecosystems etc. You will go away with all the resources and links that will allow you and your students to further explore the amazing possibilities that programming inside Minecraft can offer.
André Chercka
Co-founder of PlaybenchAndre Chercka is the co-founder of Playbench, a company specializing in making Minecraft accessible to educators. Working with Minecraft since 2011 he has gained extensive experience in developing educational content, training professionals and using Minecraft as a creative platform for projects. As the founder of The Gameworkshop he has had the privilege to work closely with expert gamers in creating educational content, and methods for game based learning. In his latest collaboration, he is producing a Minecraft based learning material for The Chartered Institute of Building, designed to spark interest in careers related to construction.
Workshop: Game design for learning environments
In his workshop André will present the world, Newtown, developed for the CIOB. From this presentation he will draw out underlying principles behind creating effective learning environments in Minecraft. This will lead to a discussion of how game design meets instructional design and how this is put to practice. Participants will be invited to develop lesson prototypes within the context of Newtown, and pitch these to their colleagues.
Akao Akaishi
Youtube and Niconico Video personalityAkao Akaishi, known as Akaishi Sensei (赤石先生／Redstone Teacher), is a Youtube, Niconico Video and Be Programming personality that teaches Redstone Circuit. His principal profession is an IT engineer for 5 years. In June 18, 2011, He posted a Redstone video tutorials to Niconico Video at first. Since then, he has been posted more than 100 videos and his video has been watched over 15,000,000pv worldwide in total. He loves Redstone Circuit and always wants to pass its attraction to many children as possible. Summer in 2015, He held "Redstone Circuit Seminar at Minecraft×Education" aimed at elementary school students at Waseda University in Tokyo Japan. And he wrote and supervised over 10 books of Redstone Circuit last year and all books have been sold very well. He is also a main cast of "Minecraft club" on Youtube which is promotion of Minecraft by Sony Interactive Entertainment for two years. （His real name is Taishi Moringa）
Dr. Gary Wong
Lecturer of the Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, Education University of Hong Kong
