Minecraft has long been a popular game where players have the ability to create anything they can think of within the game world. Chicago Public Schools is putting this creative force to good use by asking students to create Minecraft using various prompts to do so.
Here I speak with René Anaya, technical support coordinator for the Chicago Public Schools Computer Science department, about how the Chi-Craft after-school esports initiative came to be, how it supports both students and teachers, and how more schools can participate. .
Just a humble mine in the Chi
Due to its opportunities for creativity and problem solving, Minecraft has seen innovative use in the educational space, particularly in the form of Minecraft: Educational Edition. Anaya says Minecraft's appeal and accessibility are part of what drives its use in Chicago's esports scene.
“Every Chicago public school, students, staff, everyone, as long as they have a CPS email, will have Minecraft Education for free,” Anaya says. “We are using this free platform on several different supported devices that CPS allows us to use. So it works on Chromebooks, iPads, and older Windows and Mac machines.”
The Chi-Craft esports initiative has grown from 20 schools to now have more than 70 participating schools, including 700 students. It's a building format battle, but with a Chicago style, during which teams have four building and presentation challenges that they must complete over a four-week period. Entries are then judged based on a 110-point STEM rubric.
“Now we call it 'Chi-Craft,' a combination of Chicago and Minecraft,” Anaya says. “The competitive aspect is that we build challenges that we submit. “It’s like a creative writing prompt, except they have to interpret it in a Minecraft world.”
The event was partially inspired by The Battle of the New York City Boroughs Minecraft Challenge. Many other schools have similarly used Minecraft to launch esports programs.
Where are the challenges?
Chi-Craft has taken Chicago by storm and many students have already submitted incredible works to compete with others in the annual event. But as more students and teachers become interested in joining, Anaya says the goal is to help increase the scale and support behind the initiative.
“One thing we did that we didn't do last year was we didn't fund teachers,” Anaya says. “So that may have helped increase our numbers. Here at CPS we had some budget cuts and that applied to many of our school activities. So we wanted to incentivize (the program). “We wanted to tell the teachers that we support them.”
Teachers and coaches receive professional learning from partners, including New York City Public Schools and Microsoft, as well as tutorials, documents, Google Classroom, and office hours available. Support is also provided through formats such as chats, Google Meets, and school visits.
Another obstacle that needs to be addressed revolves around equity.
“We don't necessarily disparage race,” Anaya says. “Chicago is a very diverse city. But we do have inequality in electronic sports. (Some believe) it does a poor job retaining female and non-binary students. Then we noticed it. As age goes on, many of our younger girls are still interested in Minecraft. When they grow up, they feel that esports is not their space. So we partnered with GirlsWhoGame (to help combat that).”
How to throw your hat into the Chi-Craft ring
Getting your school involved in Chi-Craft isn't as complicated as you might think.
First, schools have to choose between using their own funds to run their on-site esports group or asking Chi-Craft to fund them. The school would then have to get between two and five students to join the esports team and complete the appropriate paperwork to register the team.
“Make sure you choose a stylish name for your team!” Anaya says.
One important thing schools need to do to participate is to make sure they have Minecraft on their devices and that the devices can run Minecraft properly. As long as those criteria are met, Chi-Craft can send participating schools the building challenges and they can get started.
Chi-Craft is proving to be a wonderful way to engage students in exploring their creativity while developing an interest in social connections and an interest in the world around them.
