pittsli28 - Tumblr blog

[pittsli28]

Minecraft To Launch Education Edition

Minecraft to launch education edition By Leo Kelion Technology desk editor

19 January 2016

An "education version" of Minecraft will be launched by Microsoft.

Teachers will find new ways to use this game of world-building in a variety of subjects.

In 2014, Microsoft paid $2.5bn (PS1.8bn) for Mojang Minecraft, Minecraft's Swedish creator. In late 2013, it bought the four-year-old MinecraftEdu version of the game from Finnish independent developer TeacherGaming.

It's possible to add features now, but schools could face additional costs.

It is estimated that Minecraft is used in more than 7,000 classrooms worldwide.

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

"Once we make it easier for schools to access and use the tools, I'm sure you'll see that the amount of classrooms] grows quite quickly."

Camera in game

MinecraftEdu already provides teachers with the ability to modify content and access a shared library with education-themed assets.

Microsoft promises to improve user experience:

allowing characters created by the children to keep their characters between sessions

The students can allow students to "photos" of themselves using an in-game camera and then saving them in an online journal with their notes. They can be used to help other youngsters or by teachers to score their performance.

Children can download software that lets them continue playing Minecraft in a classroom setting outside of school. They don't have to purchase the game.

Teachers and children should 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 by Microsoft.

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

However, it could also help the company promote its email, word processing, and file-sharing applications over rival services from Google and others.

Microsoft intends to charge a per-year fee of $5 (PS3.50) for each teacher and child.

That could prove more expensive than the current set-up, where schools pay a one-time fee of $14 multiplied by the maximum number of users they wish to allow to connect at one time, plus an additional $41 for server software.

"We believe we are bringing added value," said Deirdre Quarnstrom, director of Minecraft education.

"In addition to having a permanent identity and a permanent password, players will also be able access the most recent version of the game.

"MinecraftEdu as well as other Minecraft mods was one to two releases behind due to the development process.

"We are also replacing schools' need to maintain separate servers."

Virtual Shakespeare

The new features were well-loved by Leigh Wolmarans, the head teacher at Lings Primary School in Northampton.

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

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

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

"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 and art, drama and music remain the best ways to teach kids.

"But technology can be used as an additional tool."

Microsoft has announced that it will allow teachers to "beta-test" Minecraft's education edition without cost at some point during the summer, before its official launch.

Minecraft used to teach chemistry

5 November 2015

Minecraft lessons in schools

20 June 2014

Minecraft

MinecraftEdu

Lings Primary School