As computer‐based game use grows in classrooms, teachers need more opportunities for professional development aimed at helping them to appropriately incorporate games into their classrooms. Teachers need opportunities not only to learn about video games as software but also about video games as culture. This requires professional development that embeds educators in the social practice of games while they learn how to play and implement them in classroom practice. This article describes the design considerations around the ongoing TESOL Electronic Village Online (EVO) Minecraft Massively Open Online Course (MOOC) that mimics the social practices around video games by reimagining professional development as a participatory culture. This participatory‐culture approach anchors participants’ learning of the video game Minecraft in a multiyear community of educators who share ideas, post videos, blog, and play Minecraft together. This community of practice raises awareness among its participants of the participatory cultures in which our students play video games.
Video games as both an entertainment medium and classroom tool have risen in prominence over the last decade. Classroom teachers work to incorporate video games in classroom pedagogy, while researchers use a multifaceted approach to investigate best practices for games in the language classroom. Understanding these best practices necessitates that instructors understand games and their surrounding communities while researchers continue to investigate beyond games and learning efficacy and document when and under what conditions games can be effective for language learning.
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