Community reviews for Minecraft: Education Edition

I would like to see it used before I decide. I can see the ways that this would help students visualize historic settings.

I like that they are able to to express their creativity, while still learning. It's a fun way to express what you have taught them, and a good way to build a collaborative classroom. I would have used the arrow keys for movement because it makes it a little confusing.

Knowing how kids love using Minecraft for entertainment, I am excited to see that the game has been modified for use in the classroom. The designers made it easy for teachers to adapt the game for their purposes, and for students to excel in class using their creativity and problem-solving skills.

Minecraft for Education is great! This allows kids to learn and be creative, while having fun. Their creativity comes naturally when they get wrapped up in games. Using this in a classroom setting could make fun and encouraging competition for building things and constructing them.

I don't think that this would be a good teaching tool for me. It would take years for me to fully understand exactly what is happening. Additionally, there is no real direction with the game. Almost too much freedom, especially with younger grades.

I now see Minecraft at the center of the educational universe: Minecraft and “learn by doing”, Minecraft and computational thinking … and digital literacy … and project-based learning, … and virtual reality … and 3D printing … and so on. I see Minecraft as a garden where flowers are: programming languages (java, javascript, python, Scratch), IoT (arduino/raspberry pi/Intel boards), virtual and augmented reality, tinkering (papercraft, littleBits), robotics, 3d modeling (tinkercad, thingiverse), 3d printing, artificial intelligence.

The EE version of Minecraft along with the Classroom app and the new coding add on has allowed me to explore a much larger range of STEM topics than I did with traditional Minecraft. The lesson plans and maps available keep me inspired to let the students try more.

Overall, I find that what the students do in Minecraft parallels the way I hope they are able to learn classroom content, and the connections they make with each other through working together in the Minecraft world carry over into the real world as they work together to learn the content of my normal classroom curriculum.

It is one of the best tools I have used. It is engaging & provides students the opportunity to be truly creative.

Minecraft is a very special tool in education. One of the things I love most is that many kids come with an existing level of expertise. My strength is teaching the game design process. Kids can hit the floor running when they already have a base understanding. Those that don't are happy to jump in and learn, often with incredible support from their peers. The inherent collaborative nature of Minecraft allows for teams of any size to work together and I am continually amazed at how organic the team work flow seems to develop within the game. Kids tend to find and focus on their strengths within the game and roles form in a very authentic way. If you have not already, please join the Minecraft: Educator community at http://education.minecraft.net - the minecraft educator community is very generous and available for support!