Minecraft Exploration

I didn't take to Minecraft immediately. The creepers, well, creeped me right out of the game. It was intrguing, but the nighttime deaths were taking their toll on my patience. I wanted to explore and not get destroyed. I wanted to build and not have to hide at night. I felt that I was not long for the application, and would leave it behind me after the course was over. Nope.
I found myself making my final project for 531 in Minecraft, and suddenly, I saw the appeal. I knew it was 'cool' to build allalong, but it just wasn't happening for me. But when I was tasked to build such that others would deliberately occupy the space, well, there was some motivation. I dug deep (literally) and found the preocesss to be wildly engaging. I wanted to discover more tricks, more hidden neat-os. I talked to my 10-year-old son about the game (he knew too much; I couldn't follow), and I had an afficiando of the game (a junior on campus) look at what I did, and he showed a few things I would never have found out on my own. Loved it.
My explortions so far have been limited, but after the experience of building for others to see, I feel that I will look further, I will try to fing the things I've read about like Disneyland in Minecraft. I do believe, I've become a fan of the game.

Cloud Hopping

Okay, so took the obligatory Hover Craft ride. Interesting, but ultimately just 'fast' moving through the land. Definitely worth the look, but uninteresting in the end. The land had nothing else to offer.
On to "Let it Snow" (by Advent), where there was something of an igloo with Christmas presents inside, and a bench and a snowman outside. How this person was able to create the effect of snow was an immediate thought for me, as the visual aesthetic was very appealing.  Photo:

Dressed for the occasion!!!

On to "Dabney" (by Lilli Thompson), where there was a Mediterranean-looking courtyard (palm trees) with a oil barrel fire. The dark and starry night was fascinating. Upon first glance at Cloud Party, environments seem limited, but as one sifts through the possibilities by looking at lands already created, it becomes obvious that limitations are set by one's own imagination. Photo:

Dark, but really cool.

Cloud Party: Save the Date

It seems that the UI has changed a bit since this quest was created, but the idea of inviting students to a Cloud Party location is indeed intriguing. An immediate thought would be an office hours situation, where students were invited (hopefully a Google+ option will appear on the cell phone) to discuss classroom topics from the comfort of their homes, while still improving knowledge bases in the subject at hand. Possibly a manipulative blackboard could be set up in the classroom build available, where students would inspect study guides or homeworks completed, along with the teacher available to answer/comment. Even more, students often find themselves in a bind with extra-curricular activities and jobs (of even baby-sitting) to be able to attend an immediately-after school office hours session. This would allieviate that dillemma.
Personally, I love the idea of setting up a group session as office hours in CP. I've so often struggled with students being unable to attend, or on occasion having too many attend and not being able to truly help individuals. Having a pre-arranged 'blackboard' available to view with necessary information, worked-out problems and the such, along with a chat function to communicate with the teacher sounds ideal. Multi-tasking for the teacher would be far easier, and the students could avail themselves appropriately and much more easily. Without question, this is a serious consideration for me.