Minecraft To Launch Education Edition
Minecraft to launch education edition by Leo Kelion Technology desk editor
19 January 2016
An "education edition" of Minecraft will be launched by Microsoft.
Teachers will find new ways to utilize this game of world-building in a variety of subjects.
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 which is a Finnish independent developer.
It's promising to add more features however, schools may be faced with extra expenses.
It is believed that Minecraft is used in more than 7,000 classrooms across the globe.
"Teachers are using Minecraft to accomplish a variety of things, such as teaching maths, science poetry, religion, and more," Anthony Salcito, Microsoft's vice president of education worldwide spoke to the BBC.
"Once we make it easier for schools to have access to and use of the tools, I think you'll notice that the number of classrooms increases quite quickly."
In-game camera
MinecraftEdu already allows teachers to modify the content of the game and use a library of shared education-related assets.
Microsoft promises to enhance user experience through:
allowing characters created by the children to be able to maintain their character between sessions
The students can take "photos" of themselves using an in-game camera and then placing them in an online book along with their notes. These can later serve as a guide for other children, or be used by the teacher to score their progress
Children can download software that lets them continue playing Minecraft educationally outside of school. They don't have to buy the game.
To use the service, children and teachers require their own Office 365 ID, which can also be used to grant access to the Microsoft's cloud-based productivity software.
Microsoft claims that this will allow teachers to manage fewer online accounts they need to manage.
But it may also help the company promote its word processing, email, and file-sharing apps over competitors from Google and others.
Microsoft intends to charge an annual fee of $5 (PS3.50) for each teacher and child.
This could be more expensive than the current basic set-up that requires schools to pay a one-off fee of $14 multiplied by the maximum number of people they want to be able to connect at one time and an additional fee of $41 for server software.
Deirdre Qarnstrom, director for Minecraft education, stated that "we believe that we are providing value".
"In addition to having a permanent identity and a permanent password, players will also be able play the most current version of the game.
Just Another Site
"MinecraftEdu was, along with other Minecraft mods. This was due to the nature of the development process.
"We are also replacing schools' need to maintain separate servers hardware."
Virtual Shakespeare
The new features were greeted by Leigh Wolmarans, the head teacher of Lings Primary School in Northampton.
The school utilizes MinecraftEdu to teach children about A Midsummer Night's Dream by asking them to create a production of Shakespeare's play within the game.
However, he said other teachers should be aware of the software was not without its limitations.
"Technology can lead to extraordinary learning, but it needs to be utilized in combination with other tools," the professor said.
"If all you do is sit them down and leave them to play Shakespeare through Minecraft, then you are doing something wrong."
"Dance, drama and art are the best ways to teach children.
"But technology can add to that as an additional tool."
Microsoft has announced that it will allow teachers to begin "beta-testing" Minecraft's education edition "in the summer" free of charge, prior to the start of the official launch.
Minecraft was used to teach Chemistry
5 November 2015
Minecraft lessons in schools
20 June 2014
Minecraft
MinecraftEdu
Lings Primary School