by Stone Marshall | Aug 23, 2016 | Minecraft News |
Minecraft is the second-most popular game in the world, second only to Tetris; on average, 53,000 copies of Minecraft get sold per day.
As with most things that capture the minds of our children, educators tried to find the game’s educational value early on-and succeeded.
In 2011, before Microsoft likely even seriously considered purchasing the best-selling game, teachers created MinecraftEdu, a school-ready version that featured classroom management tools, moderation tools, and access to teacher-created lessons and activities. h
When Microsoft purchased Minecraft from its creator, Mojang, Microsoft realized the massive potential of the game as a learning tool and decided to revamp the education version and re-release it with new features. Currently in its beta version, Minecraft: Education Edition is being tested by schools and educators all over the world.
Here’s why we’re anxious to find out how this testing is going:
To Learn More About the Potential of Game-Based Learning in Teacher Training.
If Minecraft’s education edition is as successful as we predict it will be, that could completely change how the education community views game-based learning.
For instance, even though the product is still in its beta version, one professor is nonetheless using it to teach his education technology students techniques.
According to The Toledo Blade, Mark Stevens, professor at Bowling Green State University, is using the still-in-development version of Minecraft to teach students why gameplay has a place in the classroom. Stevens is committed to using Minecraft to show current students the impact of emerging technologies on learning, whether it’s the beta version of not.
If all goes well, Minecraft could soon become a staple in how teachers’ learn to teach.
To See What Kinds of Lessons and Activities Teachers Have Developed.
Part of the reason Microsoft released the beta version of the education edition this summer is so teachers could have time to test out the new features, but also so teachers could have time to develop lesson plans and activities for the fall.
What teachers have come up with could very well be indicative of a break-through in how learning happens in the classroom. Everyone- not just us- is excited to find out how teachers are able to experience success using game-based learning to teach a variety of subjects.
To Find Out If Minecraft’s Education Community Can Be a Valuable Tool for PLN Development
Because developing creative and useful lesson plans for Minecraft can be a lengthy task, Microsoft has created a portal of resources that is designed to help educators begin their journey.
Microsoft has even created Minecraft Mentors, a program that connects beginners with seasoned users of Minecraft’s educational features to guide use.
This can represent a valuable opportunity for educators to connect with individuals who can become staples in their Professional Learning Network (PLN), which will help them continue to grow as they receive support and feedback throughout their career.
And, Of Course, to Hear About How Students React.
We know that students love Minecraft outside of the classroom, but how are they reacting to Minecraft as an educational tool? What kinds of student responses have come up since testing has begun, and what do these responses mean for future involvement? We can’t wait to find out more.
The wait is almost over. Beginning in September, Microsoft: Education Edition will be available for schools to purchase at a price point of $5 per user.
Why We’re Anxious for the Results of Educator-Testing of Minecraft: Education Edition
by Stone Marshall | Aug 23, 2016 | Minecraft News |
No Man’s Sky has been out for a week now, and the Internet has devoured the game to a degree the developers never predicted. It’s a huge hit—although, as expected, the game has been divisive because the real game we can play now is quite different than the super-hyped version of No Man’s Sky we imagined. For one thing, a lot of earnest and eager fans expected the game to be some kind of a Minecraft killer. It was probably never to be in the first place, but one thing’s for sure—No Man’s Sky isn’t a Minecraft killer. And that’s for a pretty obvious reason. The games just aren’t that much alike.
Why No Man’s Sky Isn’t A Minecraft Killer
‘No Man’s Sky’ is a space exploration game unlike any other, for better and worse. Hello Games
O, the halcyon days of 2015, when the hype about No Man’s Sky reached its maximum levels compared to the amount of actual information we had. Absent much detail about the gameplay in No Man’s Sky, players and lazy journalists projected every little thing onto the game, from imagining it was a massive multiplayer game of space alliance building like EvE Online to dreaming up a game where we all could build massive planetside installations of our own design, a sort of Minecraft set on infinite earths.
Of course, it turns out No Man’s Sky isn’t anything like that. For one thing, it doesn’t have base-building, one of the core components of Minecraft (although the feature is coming in a future patch). For another, while you can tear down many of the environments in No Man’s Sky, you can’t put them back together like you can in Minecraft. NMS has loads of destructible environments, but not only is there no base-building… there isn’t much building at all.
After all, No Man’s Sky is a game about moving continuously… not about standing in one place and slowly building up a world. And while No Man’s Sky does have a developed crafting system, what you create is about helping you move forward faster and more safely—not about helping you build a cooler and better base.
When it comes down to it, No Man’s Sky isn’t a Minecraft killer because it doesn’t really compete with Minecraft. The games set out to do very different things. Tons of indie games do pursue similar angles as Minecraft, and are far more in its purview: Don’t Starve, Terraria, Starbound, Stardew Valley and even Super Mario Maker and Fallout 4 are closer to Minecraft’s wheelhouse. No Man’s Sky, on the other hand, does a great job at what Sean Murray and Hello Games always said it would do. It has its problems—some of them big ones—but it’s a stunning science fiction visual epic sandbox. Minecraft is an open world base-building adventure sandbox. They just aren’t even in the same realm.
‘No Man’s Sky’ Vs ‘Minecraft’: So NMS Isn’t A ‘Minecraft’ Killer
by Stone Marshall | Aug 22, 2016 | Minecraft News |
Find out about the best-selling PC game.
Minecraft is a video game for single or multi-player use.
The game allows players to create constructions out of cubes in a three-dimensional generated world.
Minecraft was released in November 2011 after being designed by the Swedish programmer Markus Persson.
Kristoffer Zetterstrand and Markus Toivonen are the artists of the game, whilst Daniel Rosenfeld is the composer and sound developer.
Swedish company Mojang are the developers of Minecraft. The Stockholm based business was bought by Microsoft in November 2014.
Minecraft has various versions such as survival mode, in which players have to maintain the health of their created world. The creative mode is where unlimited building resources are available, whereas adventure mode allows multi-player usage as players explore the created maps of other gamers.
Minecraft is categorised as a Sanbox game since players have more freedom than typical video games. There is less structure to sandbox games as players can essentially create their designs from a blank template.
What is Minecraft?
by Stone Marshall | Aug 22, 2016 | Minecraft News |
Lovers of sandbox explorer game Minecraft will be able to lose themselves in its world of blocky graphics, as the game launches on the Oculus Rift.
Global Xbox and PC users with the headset already playing the game will be able to get a free Windows 10 beta update to enter into the VR world.
The game is one of the first big titles to launch on the much hyped Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, which is set for its European launch next month.
Minecraft is one of the first big titles to launch on the much hyped Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, which is set for its European launch on 20 September
Minecraft’s developer, Mojang, trumpeted the game’s arrival with an excited blog post: ‘How’s your face? Is it ready? Is it ready to have Minecraft right up in it? It’d better be: today we’re releasing a free update to Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta which will enable you to play Minecraft on Oculus Rift.’
Writing on Xbox Wire, the game’s AR/VR developer Mike McGrath, said: ‘For new and experienced players, we hope the VR experience in Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta will illuminate just how powerful, evocative, and utterly immersive VR can really be.’
Tweaks to the VR version of the game include the ability to peer over ledges
But the Rift version of the game also includes a Minecraft ‘living room’ in which players can zoom out of the first person perspective and step back through a screen into their very own virtual room and continue to play the game on a screen (pictured)
Included in the VR version of the game is a Minecraft ‘living room’ in which players can zoom out of the first person perspective and step back through a screen into their very own virtual room and continue to play the game on a screen.
This is the second bite of the VR cherry for Minecraft, with fans already able to play a limited version of the game on Samsung Gear VR.
But the new Oculus Rift version provides players with a new set of features.
According to Mojang, this includes tweaks to the in-play turning – making it more comfortable for players to look around their new VR world – as well as improved graphics.
A blog post on the Oculus Rift site said: ‘Build, explore and battle mobs from a fresh perspective.
‘With a VR headset on, coming face-to-face with monstrous mobs takes on new meaning; creeping into dark caves inspires even greater trepidation thanks to 3D audio; and the light of a gorgeous sunrise seems to envelop you more completely.’
The Oculus RIft has been the most talked about tech for years, with the first developers kits sent out in 2012.
The latest official news is that the kit will launch in the UK, Europe and Canada on 20 September, with a price tag of £549 or €699. It’s already available in the US priced at $599.
A number of outlets are already taking orders for the headset, including John Lewis, Amazon and Game, and the kit will come with platform game Lucky’s Tale, along with hundreds of videos and VR movies.
Oculus will be rolling out demo experiences at retailers across the UK in the coming weeks, with titles including: The Climb, Henry, Farlands and Oculus Dreamdeck.
Minecraft gets the full virtual reality treatment: Hit game lands for Oculus Rift ahead of the headset’s UK launch
by Stone Marshall | Aug 21, 2016 | Minecraft News |
ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — During one of the hottest summers in recent memory, students at Hawfields Middle School are finding a unique way to beat-the-heat and enjoy their last remaining days of “summer freedom.”
In the world of ever-growing technology, the popular open-world building game Minecraft is finding its way into one middle school classroom.
FOX8’s Cindy Farmer shows us several ways that the game is being used and how it will affect students during the upcoming school year.
Alamance County students learn from Minecraft
