This post first appeared on ISTE Connects.

… I gave my students an assignment to play Minecraft together, hoping it would build community and encourage teamwork in our face-to-face classroom… and asked students to work together in our shared world to build me an office completely underwater …

http://youtu.be/oN2AbWKeuZo

Most of my students could recall group projects or PowerPoint presentations that were mostly done by whichever student cared the most about the final grade. They called these “fake group projects” — where it was obvious the teacher had taken what was essentially an individual project and given the assignment to a group of students, hoping they would collaborate.

“True” group projects, like real-life group projects, are ambitious and complex. They require the diverse talents of multiple people to have any hope of completion. The Minecraft Underwater Dome project was one such project. It required students who could plan, design, build and communicate….

>> Read more about this innovative project on ISTE Connects.

Looking for more Innovative Projects ideas? Check out our newly updated Innovative Projects and Lessons page.

Douglas will be speaking more about Minecraft, learning communities, and the Classroom of the Future in his iPad Summit San Diego keynote. If you can’t wait until February, space is still available for the November 13-14 iPad Summit in Boston!