According to Microsoft SA, the Minecraft Education Edition is now available in South Africa. It seems that from now on, the popular game will be used in school to teach kids various subjects, not only computing.
We have to mention that this open-world game is promoting problem-solving, collaboration and creativity. Stephen Reid, the founder of ImmersiveMinds and Minecraft ambassador, has mentioned that “we need to embrace new technologies in education.”
The company has been around for more than 20 years and it is focused on bringing technology into the classroom via game-based learning. Reid claims that the teachers will need to meet the learners in their own world, “using the tools they use and bringing the learning to them in a fun and effective way”.
The Minecraft ambassador has also mentioned that the technology should not be viewed as a standalone tool. Instead, it must be viewed as a powerful tool and that any teacher should use it aside from the traditional tools.
In Minecraft, the kids will be able to replicate the authentic world in the game and learn about history or environment. It allows them to experiment with stuff that normally, they wouldn’t be able to do, such as cutting a tree or visiting pyramids in ancient Egypt or viewing the Eiffel Tower.
Keep in mind that the education edition of Minecraft is a bit different from the regular game, as it is allowing the teacher to create a “closed world”, where only they and their learners will be able to access. At the same time, the teacher can put barriers in the world, so that the kids will not be able to do whatever they want in it.
According to Reid, since they’ve started using Minecraft and computer games in school education, the children have been taught common language that’s used in technology, which is very helpful if they want to do things such as coding in the future.
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