Bridging the Engagement Gap: Applied Learning for Gen Z Students

An Engagement Gap in Schools

Getting students actively engaged in what they’re learning is key to their success in school. When students feel like what they’re studying and the activities asked to do are meaningful and interesting, they’re more motivated to invest the time and effort it takes to learn new skills. A new study from the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup, however, finds that less than half of Gen Z students say they’re regularly having engaging experiences in school, and this is affecting their motivation and sense of wellbeing.

What strategies can educators use to get their students authentically engaged with their learning? Sometimes, it’s not so much about what’s being taught as how easily students can connect what they’re learning with their own experiences. In the study, 60% of students said they are most interested in learning when their teacher makes the materials exciting and relevant for them.

Applied Learning is Exciting Learning

So, how can educators create learning experiences Gen Z students will get excited about? Grounding lessons in the real-world—giving them opportunities to immerse themselves in answering questions relevant to their own lives—is a powerful way to help students, especially those who come from historically marginalized communities or who struggle to connect with their school community—find meaning in their schoolwork. This applied learning approach is iterative and constructive and fosters intrinsic motivation for learning.

What does Applied Learning look like in practice? It can take many forms, from hands-on experiential learning to project-based learning to self-directed learning. Often, though, Applied Learning strategies can seem time-consuming to implement, or require resources beyond what’s available. This can lead to uneven access to these kinds of engaging learning opportunities, where only students at highly-resources schools regularly benefit from Applied Learning experiences.

Minecraft Education Makes Applied Learning Easily Accessible

Minecraft Education offers educators the ability to bring high-quality Applied Learning into their schools and classrooms, no matter where they are in the world. Available on almost all devices (including Android and Apple phones), and included with the Microsoft 365 licenses many schools already have, many students who otherwise may not get to engage in immersive, project-based learning activities, can do so with Minecraft Education, a powerful learning tool that brings the familiar, fun world of Minecraft in the classroom, with compelling content that drives high engagement.

Its open, sandbox learning environment encourages higher-order thinking skills like creativity and inquiry-based learning, and it’s lesson library has hundreds of immersive, project-based learning activities that give students opportunities to build solutions to real-world problems without leaving their classrooms or requiring any supplies or complicated project management by their teachers.  

Applied Learning, simplified.

Research Demonstrates the Efficacy of Minecraft Education

Researchers at Dublin City University recently completed a study on Minecraft Education, suggesting overall that Minecraft Education is an inclusive learning tool that supports many key elements of Applied Learning, including collaboration, creativity, and activity participation in learning. Australian researchers had similar findings when studying Minecraft’s utility in Math education.  In fact, over 42 academic papers have examined the benefits of using Minecraft in the classroom. You can learn more about the research supports for Minecraft Education here.

Level Up Your School’s Applied Learning Today

No matter the grade level or subject, Minecraft Education offers educators an Applied Learning platform that empowers students to solve problems, express ideas, and build skills for the future.  If you’re new to Minecraft Education:

• Visit our website
• Explore our lesson library
• Download the free Demo version and give Minecraft Education a try

When you’re ready, we offer a range of accessible professional learning resources for educators, all 100% free. We can’t wait to hear about the blocktacular immersive learning activities you bring to your students with Minecraft Education!