Notes

Minecraft To Launch Education Edition

Minecraft to launch education edition by Leo Kelion Technology desk editor



19 January 2016



Microsoft will launch an "education version" Minecraft.



Teachers will discover new ways to employ 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. It also bought the four-year-old MinecraftEdu game from TeacherGaming, a Finnish independent developer.



It's possible to add features now however schools may be faced with additional costs.



It says more than 7,000 classrooms around the world are using Minecraft in some way.



"Teachers are using Minecraft to accomplish a variety of things, like teaching science, math, religion and poetry," Anthony Salcito, Microsoft's vice-president of worldwide education spoke to the BBC.



"Once we make the tools more accessible for schools to have access to and utilize I believe you'll see the number of classrooms] grow quite quickly."



In-game camera



MinecraftEdu already provides teachers with the ability to edit content and access a shared library that contains educational-themed resources.



Microsoft promises to enhance user experience through:



Allowing characters created by children to retain their character traits between sessions



Allowing pupils to take "photos" of themselves using an in-game camera, and then saving them in an online book with their notes. They can be used to instruct other students or by teachers to score their progress.



allowing children to download software that will allow them to play the educational version of Minecraft outside of school, without the need to purchase their own copy of the game.



Teachers and children need to have their own Office 365 ID to access the service. This ID can also be used to get access to the cloud-based productivity software developed by Microsoft.



Microsoft claims that this will help teachers minimise the number of online accounts they need to manage.



It could also assist the company in promoting its word processing, file sharing and email applications over other services such as Google and others.



Microsoft plans to charge an annual fee of $5 (PS3.50) for each teacher and child.



This could be more costly than the current basic setup, which costs $14 plus $41 for server software.



Deirdre Qarnstrom is the director of Minecraft education, stated that "we believe we're creating value".



"On on top of having a recurring identity, players will also be able to access the most current version of the game.



"MinecraftEdu as well as other Minecraft mods was one to two releases behind by 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.
Gameaff.com


The school already uses MinecraftEdu to teach pupils about A Midsummer Night's Dream by asking students to create a version of Shakespeare's play in the game.



However, he said other teachers should be aware of the software was not without its limitations.



He also said that technology can be used to improve learning, but it should be used in conjunction to other tools.



"If all you do is put them in a chair and let them to play Shakespeare through Minecraft Then you're doing something wrong."



"Dance, music, art, and drama are the best methods to teach children.



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



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



Minecraft was used to teach Chemistry



5 November 2015



Minecraft lessons in schools



20 June 2014



Minecraft



MinecraftEdu



Lings Primary School


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