Minecraft Education Edition

An engaging learning experience

Minecraft Education Edition is a version of the popular learning-based sandbox game to help students learn creatively. With this Minecraft download, teachers and educators can promote problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity through an engaging digital environment.

Compared to other Minecraft releases, this educational version comes with plenty of innovative features for classroom use. Most of these features help teachers with documentation work while fostering a safe environment for students to learn. When you download Minecraft Education Edition, it offers support for community forums, lesson plans, and even a My Classroom feature.

Help students learn creatively

With several innovations in technology, different mediums have improved teaching methods. These innovations primarily focus on the rapidly changing needs of the 21st century. While platforms like Udemy focus on course-based learning, Minecraft Education Edition takes a different approach. This version of the popular sandbox game aims to help educators create a learning-based digital environment to keep students engaged.

What is Minecraft: Education Edition?

Developed by Mojang, Minecraft Education Edition is an open-world learning platform based on the sandbox gaming dynamics of the Voxel game franchise. This version of Minecraft download allows educators to create an innovative, fun, engaging, and immersive digital environment, where students can learn problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity. 

What is the difference between Minecraft: Education Edition and normal Minecraft?

While both versions feature sandbox gameplay in a 3D voxel world, Minecraft: Education Edition includes additional features designed for educational purposes. These features include border blocks to prevent players from crossing marked locations and allow and deny blocks that enable teachers to grant permissions for certain actions. The edition also offers camera and portfolio features for participants to capture shots of the environment and their virtual avatars, as well as customizable chalkboards for writing messages. Additionally, non-player characters (NPCs) can be spawned by teachers to act as guides or samples, and they can even redirect learners to other online locations for further interaction.

Is it free?

The full version of MinecraftEdu is a premium product, much like any other official release. However, it’s free to try. There are two ways to do so: a free trial or a demo lesson. To avail of the free trial, you will need to have either a Microsoft 365 account or an Office 365 Education account. Meanwhile, the demo lesson can be accessed without any accounts or log-ins.

Does it help with learning?

Minecraft: Education Edition focuses on different aspects of learning. With this app, you can teach students the basics of coding with ‘Hour of Code lessons. This feature is available as a free demo and touches upon the basics of AI (artificial intelligence). The program comes with an ‘Hour of Code’ toolkit to meet classroom learning objectives via lesson plans, video tours, and comprehensive FAQs. These tools can help educators and teachers successfully conduct coding lessons in school.

Additionally, Minecraft Education Edition lets your students learn mathematics, English, biodiversity, and several other subjects creatively. Mojang has partnered with the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) to create a comprehensive content package. It contains various lessons to help young minds learn about biodiversity, conservation, and ecosystems. Each page of the lesson focuses on several issues challenging humanity and discusses different species from around the world.

For a lot of students, learning mathematics can be quite challenging. None of the platforms, including Baldis Basics in Education and Learning focus on this aspect. With Minecraft Education Edition, teachers can bring the entire curriculum alive. With several engaging lessons and activities, students can understand complicated concepts. Whether the topic is fractions, volume, area, or another mathematical lesson, it is a great choice for a learning-based digital program.

What’s the curriculum standard in Minecraft?

While programs like Mathematica and TuxMatch focus on basic and niche learning, Minecraft Education Edition considers a comprehensive curriculum standard. It’s worth mentioning that the platform’s training resources are based on ACARA, 2017 (Australian Curriculum). The program comes with a full-fledged, downloadable starter kit for educators that reviews the basics of the app.

Using the toolkit, educators can effectively and efficiently teach a wide range of subjects and topics. Moreover, since a strong community backs the program, educators can engage with fellow teachers for tips on classroom management, lessons, and other forms of guidance. The simple interface makes the program easy to use and navigate. The community even provides Minecraft: Education Edition mods that anyone can tap and use.

To ensure ease of use, Minecraft Education Edition’s official website offers downloadable worlds, realms, and lesson plans. Collectively, these help teachers integrate the sandbox game into the traditional classroom environment. As mentioned earlier, the Minecraft Professional Learning Community proves to be a great place for troubleshooting ideas and other information. Here, you can even participate in discussions, save resources, earn badges, and submit lesson plans.

It’s important to understand that Minecraft Education Edition gives complete control to teachers and educators. With the toolkit, teachers have the ability to create worlds, make changes in these worlds, and control student characters. For instance, if your student has wandered off the project or gets lost in the ‘world’, the teacher can teleport the student to the right place at the right time. This version of the game gives teachers the ability to communicate with students within the game. Teachers can send individual or group messages within a few clicks.

In Minecraft Education Edition, lessons are only limited by imagination and creativity. For instance, when it comes to ‘Social Studies’, students can work in groups to create new ‘worlds’ and ‘civilizations’. Similarly, match classes can be used to learn about perimeters and areas by building houses, pools, and gardens. Regardless of the subject, Minecraft offers excellent resources for both teachers and students to learn in an engaging environment.

Minecraft Education Edition serves as the perfect support system for traditional classroom education. With its creativity-focused learning environment, students can gather knowledge, and understand the concepts of various subjects in a much better way. It’s worth a try and is a great choice for Windows PCs. With this version of the Sandbox game, you won’t be disappointed. Students will get an opportunity to learn in an engaging and fun manner.

Potential drawbacks

Despite its numerous advantages, Minecraft Education Edition has its drawbacks. One significant con is the cost associated with accessing the full version, which requires a premium subscription. While there is a free trial available, the ongoing subscription fees can be prohibitive for some schools and educators. 

Additionally, reliance on a stable internet connection can be a limitation, especially in regions with poor connectivity. Another downside is the learning curve associated with the software; while it offers extensive features, it may be overwhelming for teachers who are not tech-savvy or familiar with gaming environments. Lastly, the customization and control options, while beneficial, can sometimes lead to distractions if not managed properly by educators.

Similar and alternative programs

For educators looking for similar or alternative programs, there are several options available. Tynker is a coding platform designed for kids that uses a game-based approach to teach coding skills. It offers interactive lessons and puzzles, making it an excellent alternative for teaching programming. 

Scratch, developed by MIT, is another popular tool that allows students to create their own interactive stories, games, and animations using a visual programming language. For a more traditional approach, Khan Academy provides a wide range of subjects through video lessons and interactive exercises. 

Roblox Education is another engaging platform where students can learn coding and game design in a fun, interactive environment. These alternatives offer various features and teaching approaches, catering to different educational needs and preferences.

A classic sandbox game for learning

This version of the popular sandbox game is one of the easiest ways to promote problem-solving, creativity, and collaboration. As 21st-century education continues to evolve, innovations like Minecraft Education Edition will take a front seat.

While the program doesn’t aim to replace or substitute classroom environments, it can be a solid support system to ensure creativity-focused learning. If you already have a Microsoft 365 or Office 365 Education account, there’s no reason why you shouldn't try this program.