Minecraft is a sandbox video game which is now promoted by Microsoft at schools. Now called Minecraft: Education Edition, Microsoft is full of hope that schools will champion the students to play the game in class that contains a few classroom tools and a method to roll out accounts to each student.
Microsoft obtained a mod and developed the app since January of this year. The educational tools went into a beta phase this summer and aiming to get it ready by the time school started, according to The Verge. However, it didn't happen as planned but the game is now geared up to become available on Windows 10 and macOS.
Although it has a new name, the game doesn't differ much from the regular Minecraft. It has just some educational tools added that will make things trouble-free for teachers. For instance, there's a way to see where all their students are on a map, give students different resources, and teleport people to specific locations. It also has few in-game items like camera and a chalkboard.
Microsoft wishes that the game will keep the kids engaged while teachers use it to consider other subjects. Educators will have to develop schemes that relate with what they teach to kids in the class. An example on the game's website, a huge blocky model of the human eye was made, intended for students to explore inside to see how it performs.
Minecraft: Education Edition's website will collect worlds and lesson plans although it still depends on the teachers to build instructive worlds. It might be a time-consuming procedure to create Minecraft world but the company trusts that both teachers and students will get the hang of it in no time.
Minecraft is a sandbox video game originally created by Swedish game designer Markus "Notch" Persson and later developed and published by Mojang. In September 2014, Microsoft announced a deal to buy Mojang and the Minecraft intellectual property for US$2.5 billion, with the acquisition being completed two months later.
Minecraft is for $5 per student for a year subscription and is now available for purchase in 11 languages and 50 countries around the world.
