Minecraft In Education Launched To Help Teachers Build With Students

Inside the game Minecraft, users are able to very easily create 3D models using square blocks. It's the perfect point between entertaining and educating, creative and mathematical. Microsoft recently acquired the company that made Minecraft – now they're aiming to make a more concentrated effort in education. Inside this video game environment, inside the computer, teachers are able to have students "practicing collaboration, problem solving, digital citizenship, and leadership skills through creative thinking and innovative design." It's about taking the vast potential built-in to Minecraft and making it work for education, in a big way.

It's not JUST about easing otherwise inattentive kids into education, it's about working with the already super-creative minds of students playing Minecraft, allowing their skills to feed into education about subjects outside the game's basic tenants.

One of the game's two "modes" is about surviving in a world full of bad guys by harvesting materials to create shelter, armor, and food. The other mode is about being creative. Nothing can kill the character – except digging too far underground – and creations can be nearly infinite in size.

Minecraft in education is being shown by Microsoft as "a way to teach, learn, and inspire."

"It's students visiting ancient civilizations to create and play out their own stories. It's exploring mathematical concepts like perimeter, area, and volume by breaking and placing Minecraft blocks."

Through the Minecraft in education portal, the crew at Mojang, creators of Minecraft, and Microsoft hope to bring the game into the classroom in a very positive way.