A new education experience is coming to Minecraft
Starting this summer, classrooms hooked on MinecraftEDU will be given the option of migrating to a new education-focused Minecraft title, recently announced by Microsoft who has acquired the rights to MinecraftEDU from Teacher Gaming, a Finnish company.
The rebranded title, called Minecraft: Education Edition, will launch as a free trial this summer, and all MinecraftEDU subscribers will receive a yearlong subscription to the new game (they can also continue to use MinecraftEDU). In the meantime, Microsoft is reworking and expanding the new education edition especially for classrooms. In a statement, Microsoft alluded to working on a “transition plan” with Teacher Gaming, but said that further details — including if and when MinecraftEDU would be absorbed into the new title — would be worked out in the coming months.
Microsoft is also encouraging more involvement in its online community at education.minecraft.net, where they hope to connect educators interested in the game with relevant lesson plans, a place to provide feedback, and even a Minecraft Mentors page that “allows educators experienced in Minecraft to connect with those interested in trying it for the first time,” according to a recent online announcement.
“One of the reasons Minecraft fits so well in the classroom is because it’s a common, creative playground,” said Vu Bui, COO of Mojang, the original Minecraft’s Microsoft-acquired parent company, in the announcement. “We’ve seen that Minecraft transcends the differences in teaching and learning styles and education systems around the world. It’s an open space where people can come together and build a lesson around nearly anything.”
MinecraftEDU began in 2011 and has reached thousands of classrooms in more than 40 countries.
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