Here in the children’s
department of the Delphi Public Library, we pride ourselves on our
non-stick-in-the-mud approach to emerging technologies and trends. For a small,
rural Midwestern community, this is really quite progressive. Lauren Brannon,
children’s librarian and I, her
intrepid and erstwhile assistant, decided we would embrace the MUVE phenomenon
head-on by joining the Minecraft EDU community. If you’re not familiar with Minecraft EDU (https://education.minecraft.net/),
it is a closed MUVE. What this means is that the world-building and interaction
is limited to a select user base. This
differs from traditional PC-based Minecraft in that the players one encounters
are not from a random selection of the populace, but instead are members of
your school, youth group, library, etc. Basically, any organization willing to
pony up the dough for licensing can have their own closed Minecraft.EDU world.
This platform is preferred by schools and libraries over the more traditional Minecraft
namely because of its higher level of accountability and content control. The
library board approved the cost of the license, and Lauren and I gamely began
our tutorial. Having two teen boys certainly gave me the edge. I began clearing
hurdles like a crazy librarian. Fast forward two weeks and you’ll find our program room teeming with
that almost palpable miasma associated with adolescents. The program appears to
be a success! Everyone is cooperating, working together in a world-building utopia.
The first hour and a half of the program flies by. Finally, its 5:30 and the
time has come for battle-mode! The last
30 minutes crawl by in a haze of tears and recriminations (and that just
Lauren!). What had been an egalitarian effort had transformed into a
free-for-all as the wheat (seasoned Minecraft players) was separated from the chaff
(noobs, or novice gamers). Many of the younger players began requesting that
Lauren or I gift their avatar with particular resources or endowments. The
older players complained that the young players, unable to craft with any skill,
were looting their homes and property. After mediating countless disputes, we
called it a day and vowed never to introduce battle mode again. Two Weeks
Later: Amnesia has set in and Lauren and Jennifer have agreed to reinstate
battle mode during the last thirty minutes of game play, with a new rule: “There’s No
Crying in Minecraft.” Despite
the occasional dust-up, Minecraft (even in Battle Mode) has been an excellent addition
to our programming line-up for several reasons. Firstly among them, it
satisfies our desire to provide free and easy access to technology and
services. Many kids who had never been able to join in the conversation on
MUVEs and Minecraft, now feel like they are a part of something by sharing that cultural touchstone. For some
patrons, their inexperience was due to a lack of financial affordability of the
internet, software, and hardware required to access the platform. For others,
fears of internet safety had kept them from allowing their children to
participate. In the closed, supervised worlds
of Laurenville and Delphi Land, parents feel comfortable in allowing their
children to share in this experience. Another reason I value Minecraft as a
library tool, is its ability to rewrite conceptions regarding video games and
technology. As a teenager in the 1990s I remember reading articles, and
listening to news stories that not-so subtly put Mario and Luigi on par with
Judas Priest. Video games were seen as a vice, a hobby for the weak-minded
and/or lazy. My how perceptions have changed! Minecraft has so thoroughly homogenized
“gaming” that,
not only is it now considered mainstream and socially acceptable, Minecraft,
and by extension, gaming, is even seen as a wholesome activity. Lastly, I appreciate Minecraft in much the
same way I appreciate all “stories” (video game, book, album, or any other
narrative). It has engaged children and young adults in a way that they find
meaningful and entertaining. It is able to provide that distraction in ways
that can be educational and beneficial. It sparks a curiosity, if even only a
slight one at first, in the sciences and computing fields. That can’t be all bad!
Jennifer
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