Gaming
Full Release of Minecraft: Education Edition Coming in November
The full version of Minecraft: Education Edition is slated to be released Nov. 1 with new features, including a "Classroom Mode." Nov. 1 will also be the cut-off date for users of the free early access edition.
According to information released by Minecraft's developer, Mojang (which is presently owned by Microsoft), "Educators interested in trying the experience for free before buying can still try the early access version of Minecraft: Education Edition through November 1."
Pricing for the full release version will be $5 per user. District-level licensing plans will also be available, according to Mojang.
Mojang said several new features will debut in the November full release and detailed some of them this morning:
- Classroom Mode, enabled through a companion app that allows educators to "manage world settings, communicate with students, give items and teleport students in the Minecraft world. It displays a map view of the Minecraft world, a list of all the students in the world, a set of world management settings and a chat window. There is even a Minecraft clock to show time of day in the world. Classroom Mode offers educators the ability to interact with students and manage settings from a central user interface," according to Mojang.
- The Education Edition will also incorporate features found in the general release of Minecraft: "All the latest updates to Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition beta will be included, such as leads and horses, additional player skins, pistons and the remainder of Redstone functionality and an updated user interface."
According to Mojang, new features have been incorporated based on feedback from some 35,000 students and educators around the world who have used the early access edition.
Lesson plans, starter worlds and tutorials are accessible at education.minecraft.net, as is the Minecraft Mentors program, a community for educators who use Minecraft.
System requirements for Minecraft: Education Edition include Windows 10 or macOS El Capitan and an Office 365 Education e-mail address (available free).