The ongoing collaboration between the WRU and Minecraft Education uses rugby and Minecraft’s resources to enhance learning and engagement.
The vision is to inspire the youth of Wales to be innovative contributors to their communities by embracing our nation’s culture and history, passion for Welsh rugby and creativity using Minecraft Education. This is facilitated via the WRU Club of the Future Challenge competition. A competition that will give learners across Wales the chance to design and build their own virtual club of the future within Minecraft Education. Moreover, a competition that will enrich the delivery of the Curriculum for Wales!
Learners will be introduced to various aspects of rugby and rugby club life via a Minecraft Education recreation of the Principality Stadium. Learner’s travel through the virtual Principality Stadium, exploring key areas and spaces within the building. Along the way, learners meet and interact with NPCs (Non-Player Characters) who will reveal information about that area. It’s at this point, that learners and educators have the opportunity to access further information, including facts, figures and visual materials such as behind the scenes imagery and videos from the WRU on various aspects of Welsh rugby life. This will allow for the exploration of rugby life through different lenses and provide the opportunity to link to a range of Areas of Learning and Experience.
Information gathered from the virtual stadium tour and the subsequent tasks delivered in the classroom are geared up to challenge what each learner’s ‘Club of the Future’ might contain from inclusion and diversity, team training regimes and player nutritional requirements, even the fan experience.
The overall challenge has six stages:
- Explorer and Investigate (via the Principality Stadium Minecraft world)
- Research
- Planning
- Building
- Information Sharing
- Creation of a video walkthrough of the learners build
A Minecraft version of Principality Stadium
Learners will be encouraged to consider their local community, research and explore the needs of their local area to then start to develop a plan for a ‘Club of the Future’ for their locality. From the plan, a build will be undertaken in Minecraft Education. This will culminate in a screen recording and voiceover walkthrough of their ‘Club of the Future’. This will provide learners with an opportunity to explain the various nuances of their ‘Club of the Future’ beyond the physical build in the Minecraft world.
Through the ‘Explorer and Investigate’ stage educators have the option to focus their learners in on a wide range of activities, such as the investigation of nutrition and healthy eating from both the perspective of a rugby player and a non-sports person. Learners will be encouraged to design a nutritious menu for a day’s meals, consider the various social occasions when food plays an important role. All linking to the Health and Well Being, Humanities Area of Learning and Experience.
Other curriculum areas include Language Literacy and Communication. Learners will consider how Newspapers have had a big influence on rugby becoming a vital ingredient in the life blood of the Welsh nation. Learners could turn their hand to writing a newspaper article or even role play a video interview.
Educators should interpret and apply the use of the wide range of supporting resources accordingly to the relevant age groups in terms of breadth and depth of application. In addition, educators are encouraged to be innovative in applying the project to the most applicable Area of Learning and Experience to offer the most rewarding and engaging experience for their own learners.
