Minecraft has been a tool in education for years. Google and MinecraftEdu teamed up to teach quantum physics through qCraft, and in March the game was made available to every secondary school in Northern Island for free.
The game has the capacity to do good – and thankfully, new owners Microsoft have recognised that with a new space designed to connect the Minecraft community with educators.
“The first steps have been taken,” say Mojang. “And now we invite you to show us how Minecraft inspires you to change the way we learn.”
“Very soon after Minecraft launched, we noticed teachers bringing the game into their classrooms,” wrote Mojang. “Often inspired by the passion of their students, they started using Minecraft to design history lessons, teach language classes, explore mathematics, physics, computer science, writing, and more.”
Mojang are working again with MinecraftEdu masterminds TeacherGaming on Minecraft in Education. At present it’s just an introductory video and nascent blog, but they’ve ambitions for much more. Readers are encouraged to share stories, ask questions, or find partners to help create their first Minecraft lesson.
“We’ve created this space to connect the community of educators and players with people looking to learn more,” said Mojang.
It’s all rather nebulous at this stage, but students and teachers have shown their willingness to exploit Minecraft even without an official platform for doing so. Here’s hoping they can do more with Mojang’s backing. How would you like to see the Notch’s opus used?