What is Minecraft Education?

Undoubtedly, most parents and teachers will have heard of Minecraft. It is one of the most popular video games of all time. Even after 15 years on the market, Minecraft still continues to dominate; it is the second-highest-grossing video game of all time. Minecraft has diversified and now includes Minecraft Education, with use in 140 countries and over 40,000 schools!

In this article we will:

• Discover what Minecraft Education is;
• Show examples of lessons;
• See the benefits and drawbacks of the platform;
• Explore how teachers and parents can get started with Minecraft Education;
• Tell tips and tricks for using Minecraft Education;
• Understand what the future holds for this educational software service and much more.

What is Minecraft Education and how is it different from regular Minecraft?

Released in 2016, Minecraft Education is purposefully designed for classroom use (though anyone can sign up), merging elements of the highly popular Minecraft game, with features built specifically to nurture collaboration, assessment, programming, and much more. 

With teachers’ heavy workloads and well-being in mind, Minecraft Education includes over 600 pre-planned lessons, featuring cross-curricular links with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics); Coding; SEL (Social and Emotional Learning); History; English (Language Arts); and much more. Teachers are even encouraged to share good practices by submitting lessons they have created, continually adding to the bank of Minecraft Education’s available lessons. 

Minecraft Education boasts that its game-based platform is a great tool for learning. For teachers, there is teaching support that offers tutorials to assist educators (particularly those who are not familiar with Minecraft or Minecraft Education) and guides for cross-curricular learning. There are also numerous safety features, ensuring children learn in a safe and secure environment. Children can work together with other classmates (up to 30 at a time) on projects and learning can be tailored so all children can access the Minecraft Education content. Minecraft Education can also be played on a range of technology (e.g. Windows, Mac, Chromebook/Android, and iPads/iPhones) ensuring most schools (and individual users) will not have to invest in further hardware or software to make use of the content. 

What are some examples of pre-planned lessons from Minecraft Education that can be used?

A quick visit to Minecraft Education’s Resources page produces a bank of over 600 cross-curricular lessons that are included, with most featuring tutorials. While there is a wealth of resources available to use, both teachers and parents must scrutinize the lessons to ensure that they are meeting the required learning objectives; many of the lessons are submitted by users from around the world and there is seemingly no quality assurance oversight.

Like the game, Minecraft Education is made up of a range of different ‘worlds’ that allow students to explore and make contributions to. Each lesson is based around a particular world. Most lessons include: learning objectives and curriculum links; skills that will be developed; required supporting files/documents; suggested age group the lesson is suitable for; structure of the lesson (with varying degrees of detail); and estimated time needed for the lesson or project. 

Examples of lessons available:

Science: “Build with Bees: Habitat”, suggested for children aged 8-10 and with multiple curriculum links, allows pupils to apply their knowledge of bees to create and support their own bee colonies. 

Mathematics: “Decimal/Fraction Garden”, suggested for children aged 8-10 and 11-13, allows pupils to demonstrate their understanding of the relationship between decimals and fractions using a 10×10 grid. 

Computer Science: “Hour of Code: Escape Estate”, suggested for children aged 6 and up, introduces pupils to the use of computational thinking through the basics of Block-based or Python coding.

English (Language Arts): “Shipwreck Narrative”, suggested for children aged 8-10 with multiple learning objectives and curriculum links, allows children to explore a sunken ship to develop their observational skills. The pupils then take notes of what they have explored/seen and write a narrative of their adventure. 

History & Culture: “World War 1”, suggested for pupils aged 11-14 and part of a sequence of five lessons, involves children exploring a ‘World War One world’ and learning about the causes of WW1, as well as the nations involved.

Art & Design: “Building Architecture”, suggested for children aged 6-14, allows children to emulate and ‘build’ buildings in different architectural styles.

Digital Citizenship: “Privacy Prodigy”, suggested for children aged 6-18, involves children learning about digital safety and how best to navigate issues if personal information is compromised.

Equity & Inclusion: “Malala: One Girl Among Many”, suggested for children aged 8-18, invites children to learn about Malala Yousafzai and her mission to change the access to education for girls and women around the world. Pupils will even engage with the United Nations in a Minecraft Education World to rebuild a school in Pakistan.

Climate & Sustainability: “Zero Waste” encourages children to research and record ways to reduce food waste in their own communities (home and school).

What are some of the benefits and drawbacks of using Minecraft Education?

Based on over 119000 reviews on Google and with a rating of 4.1 out of 5, Minecraft Education is certainly a popular educational software service. However, as with anything, there are both benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits: Because Minecraft (the game) is already so popular around the globe, most children will have enthusiasm and will be eager to embrace Minecraft Education in the classroom. Teachers appreciate the ability to use ‘controls’ with the traditional open-world feature of Minecraft, allowing for greater levels of engagement from children, as well as the opportunity for pupils to demonstrate their learning on a familiar platform. Teachers will also welcome: the abundance of lessons available with cross-curricular links; the ability to use Minecraft Education for both short and long-term projects; the development of children’s critical and creative thinking skills; and the range of languages that Minecraft Education available.

Drawbacks: Some children will find that because there is so much control by the teacher in Minecraft Education, that some of the awe and wonder they feel in the Minecraft game is lost. Furthermore, children who are familiar with using Minecraft (the game) will find Minecraft Education restrictive compared to regular gameplay. Another drawback to using Minecraft Education is that some children will become distracted by playing the game and disregard their learning objectives. Technological hitches, such as incompatible devices, software updates and inconsistent internet connections will also cause frustrations to both students and teachers.

How can teachers get started with using Minecraft Education in the classroom?

As with most educational software services, Minecraft Education does have fees associated with its use. The fees cover the cost of the license to use Minecraft Education in the classroom and at home, allowing teachers to assign homework or activities for children who are not in school due to illness/holiday. However, if a school, teacher or parent is uncertain about purchasing the license to use Minecraft Education, the company offers a free demo. 

Despite being expressly designed for the classroom, parents can purchase a license to use Minecraft Education at home. This can be used to support children who are home-schooled or for parents who want additional game-based learning, rather than just traditional video games. 

What are some tips for using Minecraft Education in the classroom?

Introducing Minecraft Education into the classroom, or at home, will likely prompt squeals of delight from children. However, there are several tips for implementing Minecraft Education to ensure children and educators can make the most of this educational tool.

1.    For the first few times that Minecraft Education is used in class, teachers should allow the children plenty of time to just play and explore. Failure to allow play when first introduced will lead to pupils who are distracted by gameplay when they begin using Minecraft Education in a more formal, structured way. 

2.    Once children have had a chance to explore and play on Minecraft Education, ensure that each subsequent lesson features clear goals and learning objectives. Just like any other lesson, children need to be aware of the teacher’s expectations and what they will be required to complete during the time they are given. 

3.    Teachers should make use of the in-game tutorials to demonstrate to children how to interact and use the world. This will also ensure that both teachers and pupils are on the same page about the learning and expectations of the lesson.

4.    Be prepared for hiccups along the way. Not only will Minecraft Education be a new platform for most teachers, but children will find it slightly different to the original Minecraft game. You will also have many children who have never played the Minecraft game. Most projects will also take longer on Minecraft Education, so ensure there is plenty of support for children to plan their work.

5.    Don’t overuse Minecraft Education. While this exciting new platform might be readily embraced by teachers and children, there is a danger that it can be “too much of a good thing” which could lead to feelings of disinterest and boredom from children. 

6.    Teachers should ensure they are familiar with simple gameplay and commands – though they certainly don’t have to be experts! The best way to do this? Playing the game itself! Teachers can also make good use of YouTube video tutorials created by other educators. 

7.    Take advantage of the pre-made lessons so teachers (and students) become familiar with using Minecraft Education in the classroom. Of course, there may be lessons that aren’t exactly suited to what a teacher may be looking for, however, they can use what is available to become comfortable with the platform and then experiment with the creation of their own bespoke lessons at a later date. 

What does the future hold for Minecraft Education?

Interestingly, while there are plenty of lessons (over 600) already – and many more being added each day – available for teachers and parents to use with Minecraft Education, there are also many partnerships forming with Minecraft Education to help inspire positive changes in the world. Continued partnerships, as well as teachers sharing best practice, will allow for new content to be regularly added to Minecraft Education.

BBC’s Frozen Planet II

With a desire to inspire younger audiences from around the globe, BBC Earth partnered with Minecraft Education to create five free worlds for (licensed) users. These worlds are available in over 25 different languages, making it accessible to a vast number of children, and are accompanied by lesson plans for teachers to help educate and engage students to explore the effects of climate change on the vital frozen climates in our world. Children can even play from the perspective of an animal, a feature never before available.

Minecraft Croydon

In February 2023, Minecraft Education, in partnership with Croydon Council, among others, and the Mayor of Croydon, challenged students to help design a future town centre that is a “healthier, greener and safer” version of the existing one.

Offshore Wind Power Challenge

In a partnership with the Crown Estate, Minecraft Education has introduced worlds that provide the opportunity for pupils to apply their environmentally-conscious knowledge and to learn more about the challenges faced when planning offshore wind farms, while still protecting the surrounding marine environment. Children also have the chance to learn more about conservation and ecology. 

Artemis

NASA has also partnered with Minecraft Education to create three new exciting worlds – Rocket Build, Return to the Moon and Moon Base. The latter two worlds are exclusively available from Minecraft Education. These new worlds have been created to inspire the next generation of astronauts and scientists. Through these worlds, children can learn basic rocket engineering and mechanics, as well as have the opportunity to test their coding skills.

Given that the game of Minecraft is so successful with children aged 6 years and up (despite being an age rating of 10 years and up), it’s no surprise that Minecraft Education has garnered a dedicated following in classrooms around the world. Whether it is being used for a more traditional computer science lesson, or for a history lesson about World War One, one conclusion is evident:  Minecraft Education is an interesting way to engage children in their learning.