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MRSM Tun Mohammad Fuad Stephens in Sandakan, Sabah was the first school in the country to adopt the Minecraft: Education Edition.
Aliff, who was teaching at the school, first learned about Minecraft: Education Edition last year while attending a Microsoft Education Exchange event.
On returning to Malaysia, he gathered some students to try it out.
“As I am not a gamer, I had my students teach me the technical parts of playing it.
“These students were the naughty ones but instead of punishing them, I gave them this task,” says Aliff, who is now a certified Minecraft Global Trainer.
At the first Minecraft workshop held recently, he was invited as an instructor.
The workshop was a joint effort by Microsoft Malaysia, National STEM Centre and Digital Classroom, a teacher community. A total of 70 teachers from different schools and backgrounds participated in it.
Since Aliff started using Minecraft in classroom, he says a learn-with-each-other environment was also created.
“Today, teachers are no longer “kings” in the classroom who know everything. The students learn from their peers. The teachers too learn from their students.
“I truly believe in this outcome. Most importantly, the teacher-student relationship is now strong.
“Besides enhancing creativity and skillset, Minecraft makes the learning more powerful as the students feel like they ‘own’ the learning,” says Aliff.
Meanwhile, a science teacher at SMK Jenjarom, Selangor, Abd Rahman Ali Bashah, sees Minecraft as having big potential in developing the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills.
He plans to form a team with his students when school reopens next year.
“In STEM, we encourage students to create something based on a real situation. It’s a hands-on approach. For example, students can design a building or a bridge to solve problems.
“These lessons blend concepts from science and engineering through creativity and critical thinking,” says Rahman.
For Aliff, the students’ engagement in class is more important than merely good grades.
“Yes, getting A in exams is important but how meaningful is the grade? Via the STEM and Minecraft approach, I can see that my students’ engagement in class has increased. They are now bolder in taking risks.
“They are not afraid to try new things now and they also have better understanding of the subjects,” says Aliff.
The Microsoft Showcase School now has teachers using Minecraft in their lesson activities.
About 2,000 Minecraft licences have been acquired by not only MRSM Tun Mohammad Fuad Stephens but also other