Sorry, kids. Microsoft is turning Minecraft into an 'educational tool' Microsoft is to launch a dedicated educational version of Minecraft which it hopes will be used in classrooms globally – a move that will be sure to put kids off the hugely popular game. Back in 2014 Microsoft bought the game from Swedish developer Mojang for $2.5bn (£1.7bn). More than 54 million copies of Minecraft have been …
My kid has been using the edu version of Minecraft in school this year and he's loved it. They've been building virtual Anderson shelters as part of a WWII project. They talk about what would've been in them, location away from the house, the visibility from the air, how many people would need to fit inside etc. and most importantly he's enthusiastic about the project and really learning the subject.
Making school more exciting for children is a good thing and Microsoft's intentions in providing fun and engaging tools should be praised.
I won't downvote this comment, as it's true that Minecraft could make for some very engaging classroom projects (if you can disguise learning as a game, that's a massive win), but the idea that Microsoft are doing this for anything resembling altruistic reasons is laughable.
Microsoft have form when it comes to shovelling shit into schools and getting them to pay for it. Mind you, that's generally true of all school IT suppliers.
>They've been building virtual Anderson shelters as part of a WWII project. They talk about what would've been in them, location away from the house, the visibility from the air, how many people would need to fit inside etc. and most importantly he's enthusiastic about the project and really learning the subject.
WTF???? No, seriously, WTF?
WWII is a subject that needs to be discussed, absolutely, the Nazis were evil beyond belief, certainly, but teaching kids how to build Anderson shelters in Minecraft?? Must be the UK (severely brain-dead, nostalgic of when Britain was more than a handful of islands), next, they'll be learning how to create the Waterloo battle field in Minecraft, or Agincourt? That is history, what's the use of an Anderson shelter when you have nuclear warfare ?
Of course, at least no time wasted learning useless crap like grammar, or proper reading ...
" children were being “bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel."
Because if they can't use these tools, they will surely be bored in the unemployment line.
I work with people who should be able to use these tools effectively, but can't, it's broken, it doesn't work blah, as I insert fingers into ears....
Most children learn all the basics of things like Powerpoint, word, Excel very quickly. However, the courses at school are much too long/slow, which means they get bored. It's not a question of NOT teaching these things, but teaching them, and getting a lot more in besides.
My son complained that his ICT lessons took three weeks on how to use a mouse and keyboard. Things he already knew how to use, just by existing in the modern world. Mind you, having met the ICT teacher, she was as much use a chocolate teapot. No longer works there, so I obviously wasn't the only one who thought that.
@J H 1
I wholeheartedly agree. But as someone that has worked in a school, I know the teachers have to teach to the lowest common denominator. You know the kid that pulls a "Scotty" picks up the mouse and says "Computer open a file..."
As someone who has seen IT education I can say the students need these tools, because if you can't format your Internal Assessment for the IB in Work properly, you won't be passing.
Learning Word, Excel and Powerpoint is something that can be done in a matter of weeks. For some kids, maybe even days.
Ok, the more complex Excel stuff might take a wee bit longer, but most stuff is pretty much quick. I had to teach older adults on the marvels of the modern Office suite 11 years ago, and even the older ones were quick to catch on.
I do wish that ICT involved at least some kind of programming these days. Back in the 80s and even early 90s, it would usually involve some kind of programming, either BASIC or LOGO. MS Office is extremely boring, push that stuff down to higher level education.
School classes no. They're for learning. But games are for entertainment.
Minecraft is not meant to be in the first category.
And putting it there will kill it because;
a.) It becomes work
b.) It will need a "learning outcome" (See above)
c.) It will have to become time limited to fit it within a curriculum unit (primary) or a sequence of lessons (secondary).
d.) Teachers will have no time to fit it in to the school day properly.
e.) Neither do they have the time to get a grip on using it.(Most primary schools, for example, have some really interesting software bundled on their machines that is never used).
f.) Some parents, if not all, will be making a fuss about the kids spending all f*ing day f*ing around playing f*ing games when they should be learning from books/getting exercise.
@Richard Pinston
That's Minecraft and a Pi for learning about computery things. If that's how you want to use your Pi and Minecraft,and/or how you want to go about learning computery things fine. There is already Scratch in schools, when it is used.
( You inter alia could make the same argument for using LOGO and the LISP programming language it was built upon.)
But that's rather different to the idea of using Minecraft as an educational tool in its own right. And even then still contains most of the objections above
Or at least a motivational one. It's proven to be a remarkable asset for teaching my 5 year old about how to work a computer. I've used it to stealthily encourage him to learn everything from basic troubleshooting ("It crashed? Why don't you take a look at the log while I'm fixing dinner and see if you can tell me why and then we'll figure out how to fix it.") to minor bits of programming ("No Buddy, I don't think there's a mod to do that. Why don't we make one?") to memory skills ("You lost your house? Well I can't help you there. You'll just have to remember where you came from and go back that direction till you find it.)
<i>"We hope to bottle the enthusiasm of Minecraft"</i>
...Speaking to my 10 year old, they've already missed the boat - as kids who were all into Minecraft last year are already moving on to the next best thing.
(I forget the name of the new cool game - its loosely similar to Minecaft but is based on a higher resolution framework)
Who could have seen that coming when Microsoft threw all that cash at it?
It's not as if kids' crazes usually fade out after a while, is it? Especially when adopted by big business.
(Why isn't there an icon for laughing madly to the point of paralysis? Or at least one for heavy irony?).
Not sure which game that could be. The other one I know is similar to Minecraft with the whole "build stuff" thing would be Terraria, though that one doesn't have a "creative" mode. It does allow you to build stuff, but it's a 2D sprite game so it doesn't fit the "high resolution" description.
Playstation 3/4 has had the LittleBigPlanet game since 2008, which is indeed heavy on the creative angle (and also has the "creative mode" part). LBP2 came out sometime around 2011. LBP3 came out on 2014, IIRC it has even more new stuff so that might be the thing (given how the PS4 is now the main nextgen console).
Then there's Fallout 4, which isn't really focused on creativity but it does allow you to build stuff in your "house".
EDIT: Ah, my stepson to the rescue. It seems it might be DayZ, H1Z1 or similar games that seem to have been "inspired" by Minecraft. But they only resemble Minecraft on the "survival" aspect, he's not sure if they also have the creative stuff.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
