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Parents’ Guide to Minecraft: Education Edition
Imagine building the city of the future, taking a voyage to an ancient Viking village, writing code
to fight a wildfire, or learning about the periodic table by conducting chemical experiments
without a lab? These are just a few of the exciting ways educators enrich learning through
Minecraft: Education Edition.
In this guide, you’ll learn the basics of Minecraft, why
Minecraft is a useful educational tool, and how to get started
using Minecraft: Education Edition in your home learning
environment.
What is Minecraft: Education Edition?
You may already be familiar with Minecraft, a popular game where players collaborate and
build creatively with blocks in immersive 3D worlds. Minecraft: Education Edition is a game-
based learning platform that builds STEM skills, unleashes creativity and engages students in
collaboration and problem-solving. Minecraft helps educators meet students where they are
and inspires deep, meaningful learning across subjects.
Anyone can use Minecraft as an alternative to a poster, project, or other activity in which they
explain or model a topic. Learners can also design, engineer, and model solutions to
challenges in Minecraft. Minecraft: Education Edition includes
hundreds of pre-made Minecraft worlds. Players can build their
own worlds, allowing them to engage in and explore an
instructive virtual environment. Minecraft learning can happen
alone or when classmates and friends join each other
simultaneously in a multiplayer experience. To learn more about
the hundreds of lessons available for Minecraft: Education Edition, visit
https://education.minecraft.net/class-resources/lessons/
What is different about Education Edition?
1. Education-specific game features: Tools like the camera, portfolio, and Book & Quill
let players capture learning, write stories and export their observations for sharing
with others.
2. Code Builder and the Agent: The
Minecraft Agent is your in-game coding
companion. Using the built-in code editor,
learners can write code to command the
Agent do a range of activities in the game
while learning coding fundamentals.
3. Chemistry: The Chemistry resource pack in Minecraft:
Education Edition allows learners to discover the building
blocks of matter, combine elements into useful
compounds and fun items, and conduct amazing virtual
science experiments.
4. Lesson Plans: The Minecraft: Education Edition website offers a library of hundreds of
lesson plans in Language Arts, Computer Science, Math, Art & Design and History.
Many of these lessons have supplementary Minecraft worlds, so students can apply
their learning in-game.
How does Minecraft: Education Edition support learning?
• Supports deep and meaningful student-led learning that builds confidence and
keeps students engaged.
• Standards-aligned lessons and curriculum drive learning outcomes in subjects
including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), history
and language arts.
• Supports virtual learning experiences that directly link to and expand on the
subjects being taught in the classroom.
• Encourages collaboration, empathy and communication, helping students build
critical social-emotional skills
• Promotes key 21
st
century skills that prepare students for the future workplace
including creativity, problem solving and critical thinking.
Installing Minecraft: Education Edition on your device
You don’t need to be an expert Minecraft player to start learning with Minecraft:
Education Edition! Start by downloading the app and exploring free online tutorials,
lessons, and support resources for learning with Minecraft.
Check to see if your child’s school account is eligible for M:EE by visiting the Get
Started page. Minecraft: Education Edition is available free to millions of educators
and learners who have a valid Office 365 Education accounts through June, 2020.
Minecraft Education Edition is available for Windows, Mac, or iPad. Follow the
directions on the page to ensure your device is setup to support Minecraft.
If you’re not eligible, you may still download Minecraft: Education Edition and
complete the log-in free Hour of Code lesson at no charge. If you have the Bedrock
version of Minecraft, be sure to check out the Education category in the Minecraft
Marketplace which has over a dozen fun educational worlds available for free
download through June, 2020. Also look for the Minecraft Challenge Guide
with over a dozen free educational challenges that will work in any version of the
game.
