11 Dec 2020
Congratulations to Gordon Primary School who were national runners up in Australia’s first NAIDOC Minecraft Education Challenge.
Indigital and Indigenous Digital Excellence created and delivered the challenge to students across Australia to get the younger generation to engage with the oldest living culture in the world through technology.
Students were challenged to devise creative solutions to a problem by using a popular game, Minecraft. The question posed was ’How might we build sustainable schools, cities, towns or communities in 2030 using Indigenous science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM)?’
Student Iggy Gavrilovic received the runner up award for the Paint 3D object he designed, Spirit Car. Gordon Primary School received the runner up award for the Best Minecraft World, Fish Trap.
Gordon Primary School teacher Melissa Bissett heard about the challenge through the Academy of Future Skills and took the initiative to provide this opportunity to students.
“I just want our students to be able to participate and make the most out of these opportunities when they come up, but ultimately becoming the runners up at a national level was a delight and an encouragement,” Ms Bissett said.
A team of 26 students from year 2 to 6 participated and had just seven school days to complete the challenge.
This project was an incredible collaborative effort in which students gave up their lunch and recess time to work in teams. Paula Taylor from the Academy of Future Skills and two students from the University of Canberra also volunteered their time to guide the students ensure the project was a success.
This challenge has not only inspired students to develop their knowledge in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and new technologies but has also helped them develop soft skills such as inclusivity and collaboration.
“They came every day at lunchtime and recess and focused on what they needed to do as a team,” Ms Bissett said.
The Academy of Future Skills supported the school with their STEM expertise and by lending the devices necessary to participate in the challenge.
Indigital provided training to the teachers on how to structure the creations through Augmented Reality (AR) and how to use Minecraft Education Edition and Microsoft Paint 3D to explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories.
There were some students who have never used Minecraft or Paint3D before and none had used Minecraft Education Edition. Teachers worked out a program to show the students the basics.
The students started with reading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and then using Paint 3D to develop their 3D objects or characters. They undertook further research about Indigenous science, technology and engineering, as well as local Ngunnawal language. With that knowledge and perspective, they then did some planning on paper before getting on to the computers.
Students were particularly interested in the Indigenous knowledge and experience about fish traps, aquaculture, cool fire burns and treating the land, and nature, with care and respect. They were able to incorporate these concepts in their solutions.
“It was a fantastic way of being able to tie that traditional knowledge by building that understanding in children and in a way that was engaging with them in terms of the technology,” Ms Bissett said.
“I think it's a brilliant idea.”
The students and teachers couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of their work and look forward to participating in the NAIDOC Minecraft Education Challenge again next year.