Notes

MakeCode for Minecraft makes Learning To Code Super Fun

A few years ago, my group within Microsoft's research division began to experiment with tools that make it possible for children to learn to code within the context of Minecraft the hugely popular game where players build fantastical virtual worlds out of blocks of digital technology, design and play mini-games within the game, and then learn to live through the nightmare nights.



Spotlight: On-Demand EVENT





Microsoft Research Summit 2022


On-Demand

Watch now to find out about some of the most pressing issues facing our research community and take part in discussions with more than 120 researchers about how to make sure that the latest technologies provide the most extensive benefit to humanity.



Confused? That's okay. Many adults don't know Minecraft. While they may think they do, many adults don't know what Minecraft is. The lack of rules, the open-world environment is all part of the appeal. Our aim is to harness this passion to teach children how to code while playing Minecraft. After all, game playing is the most natural way for humans to learn.
ayeeee


This research is the result of our TouchDevelop program that we started in 2011 to show people how they can program and build applications using their phones' touchscreen. These phones are more powerful, graphically and sensor rich computers than the ones we were taught to code on when we were kids. Our TouchDevelop group wanted everyone to be able to program their phones as easily and as quickly as we could using 8-bit computers.



Then Minecraft was the game that everyone was playing and we were then compelled to program in Minecraft. The rest is, as they say is history.



Students in my after-school computer science classes who had the opportunity to play with coding in Minecraft went crazy, but in a good way. The ability to write code, and then be able to see the results in Minecraft, such as avatars that could jump 100 blocks high, climb mountains and create rain chickens, had my students racing through the classroom from screen to screen to see what their peers were doing and shouting out the IP addresses of their servers across the room.



Today today, our Microsoft Research and Microsoft MakeCode teams are excited to make this educational experience widely available through Microsoft MakeCode for Minecraft on Windows 10.



The MakeCode for Minecraft editor is Pixelated and has a resemblance to Minecraft. MakeCode lets visual blocks be coded. It has a drag-and-drop interface for beginners as well as it has a JavaScript interface with more advanced learners.



MakeCode teaches you to code using blocks or text. It also teaches you the 101 programming languages including variables, control flow, loops, loops, loops, and functions. Advanced users can advance to more advanced concepts like recursion, fractals as well as object-oriented or distributed programming.



Microsoft MakeCode also works on other editors that let you program physical objects, like micro-controllers, such as the micro:bit and Adafruit Circuit Playground Express. In all of these cases the programming is directly connected to the creation of something tangible that is the main reason why computer programmers are taught to code in the first instance.



Instead of thinking that they are programming, students are actually playing a game and developing their next superpower. Minecraft is an online game. MakeCode for Minecraft fits the coding experience into the game itself. Take a look.


Read More: https://ayakanihei.com/