Minecraft Gets Hub for Teaching Resources

Microsoft has compiled a hub of resources for helping teachers and families use Minecraft: Education Edition to teach students at home.

Microsoft has compiled a hub of resources for helping teachers and families use Minecraft: Education Edition to teach students at home.

For teachers, the compilation includes links for getting the online game set up. It's free through June 2020 to anybody; or it's available for download by anybody with a valid Office 365/Microsoft 365 EDU account. A link to the Minecraft Remote Learning Toolkit provides access to lessons, curriculum and activities to share with students, along with help on how to use the program in instruction. The site also provides a link to more information about how to hold digital events in Minecraft, including virtual graduations.

Families get access to 15 "build" challenges parents can play with their students, lessons on coding with Minecraft and a parent's guide to the software.

The website is also promoting the Minecraft Education Challenge, a loosely structured event online that encourages teachers to engage their students in longer-term projects around a special problem, such as redesigning the physical classroom to work for students with different learning styles and disabilities or building a more sustainable version of the whole school. The company said it would be featuring some student projects on the Minecraft Education website, in social media and at "Minecraft Live," an annual broadcast scheduled for September.

The "Learning at Home with Minecraft" site is part of the Minecraft: Education Edition website.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • An elementary school teacher and young students interact with floating holographic screens displaying colorful charts and playful data visualizations in a minimalist classroom setting

    New AI Collaborative to Explore Use of Artificial Intelligence to Improve Teaching and Learning

    Education-focused nonprofits Leading Educators and The Learning Accelerator have partnered to launch the School Teams AI Collaborative, a yearlong pilot initiative that will convene school teams, educators, and thought leaders to explore ways that artificial intelligence can enhance instruction.

  • landscape photo with an AI rubber stamp on top

    California AI Watermarking Bill Supported by OpenAI

    OpenAI, creator of ChatGPT, is backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content in the form of a digital "watermark." The proposed legislation, known as the "California Digital Content Provenance Standards" (AB 3211), aims to ensure transparency in digital media by identifying content created through artificial intelligence. This requirement would apply to a broad range of AI-generated material, from harmless memes to deepfakes that could be used to spread misinformation about political candidates.

  • closeup of laptop and smartphone calendars

    2024 Tech Tactics in Education Conference Agenda Announced

    Registration is free for this fully virtual Sept. 25 event, focused on "Building the Future-Ready Institution" in K-12 and higher education.

  • cloud icon connected to a data network with an alert symbol (a triangle with an exclamation mark) overlaying the cloud

    U.S. Department of Commerce Proposes Reporting Requirements for AI, Cloud Providers

    The United States Department of Commerce is proposing a new reporting requirement for AI developers and cloud providers. This proposed rule from the department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) aims to enhance national security by establishing reporting requirements for the development of advanced AI models and computing clusters.