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Student Resource Guide

Game Overview

“The Great Tech Story,” the Computer History Museum’s world in Minecraft: Education Edition, empowers students to become engaged digital citizens. It will inspire you to make and use technology that change the world for the better. Through exploration of the exhibit’s key artifacts and stories you will gain an understanding of the origins of technology that impacts our world. You will also explore immersive experiences and play through activities to learn hardware and software concepts, meet a startup team, debate ethics in tech, and see how technology is used in daily life.

Student Objectives

  • You will navigate the virtual museum to learn about the impact of computing technology and its relationship between the past, present, and future. You can explore the artifacts on display and interact with non-player characters (NPCs) and can click links to “Learn more.”
  • Through gameplay, you are introduced to a variety of NPCs in the exhibits. Five of these NPCs invite you to teleport themselves to immersive experiences to learn more about concepts relating to computer science, the technology industry, and the impact of computing.
  • After completing the five experiences, you will engage in a build challenge that focuses on core concepts of collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.

Immersive Experiences

Five NPCs located throughout the exhibits teleport you to immersive experiences to explore different topics related to computing and technology.

CHM Tour Guide

Location in exhibit: Relay

Teleports to: The Hardware Garage

Margaret Hamilton

Location in exhibit: Lunar Lander

Teleports to: The Software Lab

Entrepreneur

Location in exhibit: Palm Pilot

Teleports to: The Startup Workspace

Ethics TA

Location in exhibit: Self-driving Car

Teleports to: The Ethics Forum

Tech User

Location in exhibit: Texting

Teleports to: The Impact House

 

Learn more about what you will encounter in the immersive experiences. 

The Hardware Garage

In this experience, you will meet historic technology innovators and learn about some of the key hardware components of computers.

The Software Lab

In this experience, you will meet historic technology innovators and learn about some of the key concepts of computer software.

The Startup Workspace

In this experience, you will meet a team of five NPCs discussing “Project X.” In the team’s workspace, you will engage with each NPC to learn about their roles and responsibilities in the startup company, the challenges they face in the engineering design process, and the tech innovator’s journey.

The Ethics Forum

In this experience, you will meet a team of five NPCs discussing important issues and values that are important to consider when technology is designed, built, used or reimagined.

The Impact House

In this experience, you will meet a family of six, including a grandmother, mother, father, and three kids. Each character shares something about the technology they are using in their daily life.

Build Challenge

You will apply knowledge and skills gained exploring the museum and learning experiences to complete a build challenge.

  1. Build: Follow the build challenge prompt on the CHM Build Challenge web page.
  2. Record: You (or your team) should recored a video up to two minutes in length about your finished build. If you are under 18, you will need a parent, guardian, or teacher to submit the recording. Video submissions should show the finished build with your narration to explain: what you built, why you built it, and how you integrated concepts from the immersive experiences and museum content.
  3. Submit: If you are under 18, help your parent, teacher or guardian complete the online form on the CHM Build challenge web page to submit your recordings and feedback. If you are over 18, you can complete the form yourself.

Check back over time for new build challenges.

Resources

A glossary of terms used in the game. Download the vocabulary list (PDF).

Download this Student Resource Guide (PDF).

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