Land Grab

 Last week, the students returned to school after a four-day long weekend, only to return to remote online learning the very next day because Toronto Public Health issued a Section 22 order "to close schools to in-class learning from April 7 to April 18". 

I was grateful that we had a single day together, so that we could have an outdoor physical education class using our batons, as well as a visual arts double period so we could sculpt with plasticine clay. Simultaneously, I was grateful that TPH took measures to keep students and education workers safe. I was able to use the opportunity to try something new and unusual digitally for social studies.

I wanted to bring Minecraft into the classroom for this social studies unit, but unfortunately, the myriad of devices the students use at home to access online learning makes it challenging to coordinate a single world. However, a friend of mine alerted me to a simple, platform-agnostic tool called Gather Town. (Thanks Tina!)

Ok @gather_town you are 🤯
The ideas - the possibilities.

So wish I could try it with some friends. So cool! @JayWigmore @Libramlad @thrillsuril @MzMollyTL think you would like it https://t.co/h12zT6r2iG

— Tina Zita (@tina_zita) March 2, 2021

I decided to try it out with my students. The Grade 5s are studying First Nations and European Explorers and the Grade 6s are studying Canadian Communities Past and Present. What types of communities might we construct together in this open world, with no instruction manual or teacher direction?

These questions below are the questions that my students and I discussed shortly after our initial foray into Gather Town, as well as the reflection questions provided for more in-depth thought the day after the first visit. So, I guess I'm completing the same homework here that I gave my students.

1) How did you feel entering the new space?

2) What did you do when you got into the space?

3) How did you learn to do things?

4) Once you discovered how to change the environment, what did you (or others) do?

5) Why might the teacher not have told you what was possible?

6) Did anyone ask if they were allowed to make changes?

7) Why were people so reluctant to leave?

8) If you went back again, what would you do?

a) Why did players want to enter this world?

b) What kinds of interactions did you notice?

c) How did groups form? What did these groups do?

I was the first person to enter this space, so it felt like a big responsibility.

I briefly looked through the tutorial that the game provided, looked at the terrain, and wondered what would be the most natural kind of setting. I planted a few trees that I decided belonged to the area but kept some wide open spaces as well, so that I could mimic nature as closely as possible with some forest and plains. I placed a tent so I would have somewhere to "live". I knew more than most of the students did about Gather Town, but I was no expert. This is what the online space looked like when the first of the visitors started to arrive.

I didn't want to impose on the visitors, so I wandered around a bit and said hello. I watched as the students ran around the space, checking things out and attempting to communicate with each other. They figured out how to talk via emojis before I did.

I discovered that I could allow others to alter the environment through a simple switch. Without making any announcement, I changed the settings. I didn't want to lead or direct their play in any way. How quickly would they learn that they had some new powers? The answer was not long. 

These two photos were taken only seconds apart. This unusual new plant began sprouting everywhere, and I mean everywhere! No one asked permission, even though my name in the game was labelled MzMolly - so there was no mistaking me for other players. Maybe they felt like it was a "new space" so it was theirs to do with as they wanted? I'm curious to read their reflections to this portion.

I don't want you to think less of my students - they were behaving just like true explorers. Just as toddlers test out limits to new objects by using all their senses and pushing items to their limits, and just as players new to Minecraft begin by smashing everything in sight while discovering their powers, these students relished their abilities without considering the long-term effects. There are many types of gamers - the most simplified versions are "Killers / Achievers / Explorers / Socialisers"  (you can even take this test to see what type you are, although this test is more thorough and nuanced). Everyone interacted with the world in a different way, and no one worried about the "curriculum connections" or "learning objectives" as they were in-game (which is what I had hoped would happen).

By the end of the first session, others were squatting in my house and any spare open land was completely covered by these tiny dark green plants.

I did have to "put on the teacher hat" and tell the students we had to leave the world, with a promise that they could return. It was hard to get them to leave, because now that they had figured out what was possible to do, they were eager to do more. 

On the last day of remote online learning prior to Spring Break, the students had a second opportunity to enter our Gather Town space. The space transformed even more rapidly this time around. Individuals started to claim their spaces, and their additions definitely differed from the original theme! Tents, video games, fountains and shrubs began to appear. I started to worry that my space was going to be usurped, so I started to try and make a sign that said "Mz Molly's Spot", even though I hadn't intended on claiming a section for myself, but I didn't know how to write on the sign! I even caught the moment when someone briefly added a large pink SUV to the land!

Players wanted to enter the world because they were invited to join, because others were joining, and because they thought it would be fun and adventurous. Students did not realize how they had constructed their avatars until after they joined the game, but it turns out that several had chosen to be snowpeople, and they found each other right away and hung out together.

Near the end of our short second session, there was a huge dance party being held right in front of my "house" and all sorts of items placed on and near my tiny little corner.

I didn't mean for it to become a simulation, because in my opinion, despite there being a lot of social studies simulations online, many social studies simulations are fraught with issues, such as trivializing  and gamifying the experiences of marginalized people. However, this experience will provide great personal connections for me and for the students when we discuss things like interactions among communities, especially established vs emerging ones, or the development of relationships between groups and the impact of settlements. Respecting people and their rights sometimes has to be concentrated efforts because individual zeal can override consideration for others. I hope it will be a memorable way to understand complex past history and develop empathy.