Minecrafthas outgrown its humble beginnings in 2011 and has since become the top sold video game of all time. This massive growth has brought a huge player base that is dedicated to bettering the game by providing feedback and help whenever and wherever they can. Like its player base, Mojang, the current developers behind the new content ofMinecraft, have createdMinecraft: Education Editionthat is dedicated to improving learning and retention for school students.
Minecraft: Education Editionis a guided experience that takes players through various challenges designed to teach them STEM skills, problem-solving, curriculum lessons, and collaboration with others all while ensuring theyhave an outlet to expand their creativity. It also opens up new forms and techniques of teaching particular topics that are easier to comprehend and put into practice.
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Minecraft: Education Edition’s Vision
Mojang had a simple plan forMinecraft: Education Edition, creating a program that can give students 21st-century skills they will be able to apply in their future workspaces while maintaining a high level of attention and retention of the material. By combining the core gameplay mechanics of Minecraft and various education-based challenges, Mojang successfullyintegrated education into its massively popular game.
As a 3D building game,Minecraftalready aids in training and improving creativity, hand-eye coordination, and resource management. To take this a step further, Mojang focused its efforts on introducing STEM learning systems, such as coding and chemistry, and allowing students to work collectively on challenges to promote collaboration and leadership skills. It also provided teachers with the tools to design lesson plans and teach students topics that are required to be taught as per their school curriculum.
Minecraft: Education Edition in Schools
As an educational program,Minecraft: Education Editionis dedicated to helping both students and teachers in schools around the world effectively learn and teach respectively. With the tools available in this edition, teachers can create lesson plans withinMinecraftand assign tasks to students while providing detailed explanations through the chalkboard or through customizableNPCs to guide the students through the lesson.
Students have alimited block palette inEducation Editiondependent on the lesson plan created by the teacher and must use those blocks,Minecraft’s gameplay mechanics, and collaboration to ensure they complete the set tasks. They can take pictures using the camera tool to catalog the completion of tasks which can be accessed anytime within that world, and visit links provided by NPCs to give them more information on certain topics.
This functionality allows teachers to tailor their lessons to teach students particular subjects and focus on certain topics. The interactive learning method used inMinecraft: Education Editiondoes not simply teach students about these topics but encourages them to find creative paths towards the completion of tasks, thus improving their knowledge on these topics.
Minecraft: Education Edition’s Success
Since its release,Minecraft: Education Editionis actively being used in over 40 countries and has helped millions of students learn and understand topics much faster than conventional teaching methods. During the COVID-19 pandemic, where remote learning became a necessity,Minecraft: Education Editionhas proven to be an effective learning method that provides students with the tools necessary to progress in their education from the comfort of their homes.
Teachers around the world have noted that by usingMinecraft: Education Edition, students are able to stay attentive for longer periods of time and tackle cross-curricular lessons, something that is usually difficult when using traditional teaching methods. Whether math, computer science, or even history,Minecraft: Education Editiondoes one thing that conventional teachings methods have struggled with, making the lessons both engaging and entertaining for students.
In the 21st century, there has been a shift in teaching methods as more and more teachers have started to prefer digital teachings as it is more interactive and engaging for students, two things that can greatly improve retention of information. With a growing community of over 7,000 classrooms, students around the world can enjoylearning various subjects inMinecraft: Education Editionsuch as Math, Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, History, Art, and so much more.
Teachers and students continue to find success within the worlds ofMinecraft: Education Editionthanks to its interactive and completely customizable learning experience. Teachers can continue to design lessons in creative ways and fill them with important topics while students continue to enjoy the 3D world and find new andcreative solutions to lessons inEducation Edition, all while progressing through the school curriculum.
Minecraft: Education Editionis available through licenses for iOS and PC.Minecraftis available for Mobile, PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
