Quick look: A new Orange County Department of Education initiative will invite students in grades three through 12 to explore local issues and design solutions using Minecraft Education, with an optional Battle of the Counties competition offering students a chance to put their ideas to the test.
What if students could reimagine their communities one block at a time?
Orange County students will soon have an opportunity to explore real-world challenges facing the places the places where they live and design their own solutions, all within the block-built world of Minecraft.
Through a new initiative called Schools Reinventing Counties, elementary, middle and high school students will enter a custom-built Minecraft Education world to explore challenges facing Orange County communities, consider different perspectives and examine how local decisions affect the people who live there. The experience can be incorporated into classroom instruction, civic learning, STEAM, career and technical education, after-school programs, esports and other settings.
Students can then take their learning further through Battle of the Counties, an optional competition that challenges teams to develop an innovative, evidence-based solution to an issue in their own community and bring their proposal to life in Minecraft. Along the way, students will build skills in civic engagement, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, communication and teamwork.
According to Minecraft Education, the platform is designed for classroom use, with immersive worlds, lessons and build challenges across subjects including computer science, math and science. More than 40,000 school systems across 140 countries use the platform to support educational goals.
Similar Minecraft-based civic challenges have already been used in cities around the world. New York City’s Battle of the Boroughs, for example, has engaged more than 15,000 public school students since its launch, challenging teams to use Minecraft to develop ideas around issues such as sustainability and urban development.
“We hope students recognize that their ideas and perspectives matter, that they have a meaningful voice in shaping the places where they live, and that they can play an active role in building a stronger future for their communities,” said John Fox, an OCDE program specialist in mathematics.
Getting schools started
OCDE will host a free virtual kickoff from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Monday, October. 5 for educators and school leaders interested in learning more about Battle of the Counties. Registration is required.
The informational session is open to grade three or 12 teachers, esports teams and teachers, teachers on special assignment, administrators and district leaders. Participants will learn about competition registration and guidelines, project timelines, educator resources and the support OCDE will provide throughout the experience.
For content questions, contact John Fox at jfox@ocde.us. Registration questions can be directed to Jennifer Hughes at jhughes@ocde.us.