by Stone Marshall | Jan 29, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, parent-news |
Minecraft is one of the most popular games ever made, and it appears to be just as beloved in classrooms as it is at home. Looking to continue that trend, Microsoft and Mojang have been working hard at further developing Minecraft Education Edition, and at the start of 2017, the two firms have announced that this version of the game has now hit 1.0.
Minecraft Education Edition is the same Minecraft world you know and love, but with specific features aimed at students and teachers. It has NPCs for tutorials, simple multiplayer server setup, camera and portfolio recording, in-game chalkboards and downloadable lesson plans for educators.
While all of those features have been present since the early days of Minecraft Education Edition in late 2016, now that it’s hit version 1.0, there are a number of new features to enjoy, too.
There is now a global pause button, which brings the whole world to a quick halt in order to give children a break, and which also lets the teacher control when and how the lesson ends. Text-to-speech and other accessibility features have also been added and they make it easier for those with disabilities to join in, too. A newly arranged UI makes interaction easier, and an increased world height to 256 means bigger and better projects.
Added features from the main game’s v1.0 update, like The End dimension, are now included and there are also igloos and polar bears in snowy biomes. To top it all off, there’s a new, streamlined uploading process with support for .mcworld files.
To continue encouraging teachers and educators around the world to use Minecraft Education Edition, Microsoft has also announced a new mentor system. This will see some 60 educators from 19 countries around the world posting blogs, lesson plans, live-streams and videos on a regular basis as part of a “Mentor of the Week” ongoing series.
Microsoft and Mojang aren’t stopping there though. They plan many more updates to the educational version of Minecraft throughout 2017, so keep your eyes peeled and make sure you know your granite from your redstone, as chances are your kids will be playing it before long, if they haven’t already.
BLOCK OUT SOME CLASS TIME: MINECRAFT EDUCATION EDITION HITS V1.0
by Stone Marshall | Jan 29, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions, parent-news |
[This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource GamesPress.]
A festival celebrating one of the most successful video games will help North East parents to keep their youngsters safe online.
Nethermined – an unofficial event around the game Minecraft – will be held in Newcastle for the third time on Feb 11-12 at Northumbria University Students’ Union.
And along with giving fans of the game the opportunity to be involved in a wide range of activities including playing Minecraft, meeting some of the top YouTube gamers and taking part in workshops, special sessions have also been put in place for parents.
A special Parents Zone has been set up as part of this year’s event, where parents can get valuable tips about protecting their children who play games online, as well as learning more about their youngsters’ favourite games.
Organiser Michelle Poller, who set up the festival three years ago for her daughter who was too young to go to official Minecraft events on her own, added that Nethermined also has a strong educational value.
“It’s not just about playing games for fun,” said Michelle, from Newcastle.
“Minecraft is now widely recognised as a virtual reality educational tool and we have brought in a number of experts, including IT Educator of the year 2015, Joel Mills, who will be showcasing the way virtual reality can be used in education.
“We are hoping that this will also attract schools from across the region who should find it extremely useful.”
To allow more people to attend organisers have also now released a family ticket for £60 which can be used by two adults and two children, or one adult and three children.
NORTH EAST MINECRAFT FESTIVAL WILL TEACH PARENTS COMPUTER SAFETY…
by Stone Marshall | Jan 28, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions |
Apple’s October event was most known for the introduction of the 2016 MacBook Pro with its new Touch Bar input device. As usual at such events, however, Apple rolled out some other, lesser products and announced some things coming from partners and even competitors.
One of the latter announcements was that Microsoft would be releasing Minecraft for Apple TV. Apple indicated Microsoft’s popular open-world sandbox game would make it to its media server by the end of 2016, and Microsoft made that promise real on Monday, MSPU reports.
Minecraft runs on a host of different platforms, from PCs to Xbox One to smartphones, and it is used for fun by millions of players, as a business endeavor by YouTube celebrities, and as an educational tool by teachers and institutions around the world. Minecraft allows for open exploration of a massive world and the ability to recreate real-world sites and technologies inside of the game.
Apple has been pushing its Apple TV product as a sort of poor man’s gaming console for some time now and Minecraft will be a welcome and important addition. At this point, Minecraft support on Apple TV is a bit limited. For example, support for Microsoft Realms or Xbox Live are omitted, but developer Mojang promises support for those features and more in an update. The Apple TV version does support both Creative Mode, which offers unlimited resources, and Survival Mode, for some in-game combat action.
You can buy Minecraft: Apple TV Edition for $20 from the App Store. The Apple TV version of Minecraft supports the various DLC that’s been released for the game and some editions ship with Holiday 2015, Town Folk, City Folk skin packs and Plastic, Natural, Cartoon, and Festive 2016 mash-ups.
Microsoft releases ‘Minecraft: Apple TV Edition’ just in time for the holidays
by Stone Marshall | Jan 28, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions |
With more than 25 million sales on the PC/Mac platform alone, and over 100 million total copies sold as of June 2016, the blocky virtual world is more populated than most countries on Earth. It’s moved beyond “popular game” and into “major cultural influencer” for the next generation of creative young minds.
In the recent past, Minecraft: Education Edition added thousands more users, giving teachers the chance to tap into its boundless potential for engaging students in the classroom. With 1.0, the toolset is now feature complete and ready to move into even more schools.
Teachers can use pre-made Minecraft worlds for everything from learning about windmills or ecology, to the function of the human eye. If they’re uncertain how to begin, Microsoft and developer Mojang have them covered. 60 educators from 19 countries have been recruited for regular blog posts, lesson plans, and other supplemental help for those looking to implement Minecraft into their teaching strategy.
The 1.0 version also brings some mechanical and quality of life features. The game world can be built twice as high to accommodate complex projects, teachers can pause the game across their whole classroom, and the worlds in which the children work can be much more easily uploaded and shared.
Minecraft has a great track record as an educational asset, and it’s only getting better. In addition to the robust feature set already implemented, Minecraft is positioned to be a truly valuable tool in the hands of teachers looking to engage the most connected generation in history.
Minecraft: Education Edition’ Adds Features for Teachers to Use with Students
by Stone Marshall | Jan 27, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions |
Educators who don’t know a creeper from a piston can get online help from experts on using the megahit game in schools. Also new: polar bears.
A new version of Microsoft’s Minecraft for schools means teachers won’t have to struggle for expertise or inspiration using the game with their students.
The video game, which lets players explore its signature blocky 3D realm and build all kinds of fanciful structures, can be complicated. That’s especially true if you’re building interactive tutorials for students in Minecraft Education Edition.
Hand-picked mentors can now answer teacher questions or offer guidance for particular age groups or subjects, and now there’s a larger 60-person team offering blog posts, live streams and videos, Microsoft said Tuesday as it released the updated software.
Minecraft is immensely popular with kids outside schools. The Education Edition, which costs $5 per student, is designed to capitalize on that popularity to help teachers do their job. Its wide-open customization options means Minecraft can be adapted countless ways to help kids learn, not just veg out.
So far 75,000 students are using it, Microsoft said. Teachers can use pre-packaged Minecraft worlds for tasks like exploring ecology, showing the fictional worlds depicted in books, experimenting with construction and architecture, teaching physics and recreating historical moments.
Other changes in the new version:
- Higher skies — a 128-block height limit now is lifted to 256 blocks.
- A global pause ability so teachers can put an entire classroom’s Minecraft activities on hold.
- The addition of igloos and polar bears in snowy areas.
- An easier process to upload Minecraft worlds for better sharing.
Microsoft: Minecraft mentors help teachers grok the game
by Stone Marshall | Jan 27, 2017 | Minecraft News, Minecraft questions |
Minecraft is one of the most popular games ever made, and it appears to be just as beloved in classrooms as it is at home. Looking to continue that trend, Microsoft and Mojang have been working hard at further developing Minecraft Education Edition, and at the start of 2017, the two firms have announced that this version of the game has now hit 1.0.
Minecraft Education Edition is the same Minecraft world you know and love, but with specific features aimed at students and teachers. It has NPCs for tutorials, simple multiplayer server setup, camera and portfolio recording, in-game chalkboards and downloadable lesson plans for educators.
While all of those features have been present since the early days of Minecraft Education Edition in late 2016, now that it’s hit version 1.0, there are a number of new features to enjoy, too.
There is now a global pause button, which brings the whole world to a quick halt in order to give children a break, and which also lets the teacher control when and how the lesson ends. Text-to-speech and other accessibility features have also been added and they make it easier for those with disabilities to join in, too. A newly arranged UI makes interaction easier, and an increased world height to 256 means bigger and better projects.
Added features from the main game’s v1.0 update, like The End dimension, are now included and there are also igloos and polar bears in snowy biomes. To top it all off, there’s a new, streamlined uploading process with support for .mcworld files.
To continue encouraging teachers and educators around the world to use Minecraft Education Edition, Microsoft has also announced a new mentor system. This will see some 60 educators from 19 countries around the world posting blogs, lesson plans, live-streams and videos on a regular basis as part of a “Mentor of the Week” ongoing series.
Microsoft and Mojang aren’t stopping there though. They plan many more updates to the educational version of Minecraft throughout 2017, so keep your eyes peeled and make sure you know your granite from your redstone, as chances are your kids will be playing it before long, if they haven’t already.
Minecraft Education Edition version 1.0 adds features for teachers and students
