Notes

Minecraft To Launch Education Edition

Minecraft to launch education edition By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor



19 January 2016



An "education version" of Minecraft is to be launched by Microsoft.



Teachers will find innovative ways to use this game that builds worlds in a variety of areas.



Microsoft paid $2.5bn (PS1.8bn) for Mojang Minecraft, the game's Swedish creator in 2014. And late last year it purchased the four-year-old MinecraftEdu version of the game from Finland-based independent developer TeacherGaming.



It's promising to add features but schools could be hit with extra expenses.



It says more than 7,000 schools around the world already use Minecraft in some way.



"Teachers are using Minecraft for so many things," Anthony Salcito (Microsoft's vice president of global education), told the BBC.



"Once we make it easier for schools to have access to and use of the tools, I think you'll see that the number of classrooms] will increase quite rapidly."



Camera in-game



MinecraftEdu already allows teachers to modify the content of the game and access an education-related library that is shared assets.



Microsoft promises to improve user experience by:



Children's characters to keep their characteristics between sessions



Allowing pupils to allow students to "photos" of themselves using an in-game camera, and then saving them in an online journal with their notes. These can then act as a guide for other children, or be used by the teacher to score their progress



permitting children to download programs that allow them to continue playing the educational version of Minecraft outside of school, without having to purchase their own version of the game.
MINECRAFT SERVERS


To access the service, students and teachers have to each have their own Office 365 ID, which can also be used to provide access to Microsoft's cloud-based productivity program.



Microsoft claims that this will allow teachers to reduce the number of online accounts they have to manage.



It may also help the company in promoting its file-sharing, word processing, and email apps over other platforms like Google and others.



Microsoft will charge a $5 annual fee (PS3.50) per teacher and child.



This could be more expensive than the current set-up, where schools pay a one-time fee of $14 multiplied by the maximum number of users they want to be able to log in at once, plus an additional $41 for server software.



Deirdre Qarnstrom, director for Minecraft education, said that "we believe that we have added value".



"On top of having a persistent identity, they will also have access to the most current version of the game.



"MinecraftEdu was, along with other Minecraft mods. This was due to the nature of the development process.



"We are also replacing the requirement of schools to have and maintain separate servers."



Virtual Shakespeare



Leigh Wolmarans (head teacher at Lings Primary School, Northampton) welcomed the new features.



His school uses MinecraftEdu to teach its students about A Midsummer Night's Dream. He requested them to create a Shakespeare-inspired play within MinecraftEdu.



He added that other teachers should be aware of the limitations of the software.



He said that technology can be utilized to improve learning, however it should be used in conjunction with other tools.



"If all you're doing is taking them to a table and leaving them to play Shakespeare through Minecraft you are doing something wrong.



"Dance art, and drama are the best ways to educate children.



"But technology can also be added to it as an additional tool."



Microsoft has announced that it will allow teachers to begin "beta-testing" Minecraft's education edition at some point "in the summer" without charge, ahead of its official launch.



Minecraft was used to teach chemistry



5 November 2015



The schools use Minecraft in lessons



20 June 2014



Minecraft



MinecraftEdu



Lings Primary School


Homepage: https://minecraft-servers.xyz/