I opened a creative server and had everyone spread out with groups far away from each other. Crayfish’s furniture mod, BiblioCraft, Custom NPC’s, ComputerCraftEDU, Malisis Doors, Carpenter’s Blocks, and the Key and Code Lock mod. We first installed mods on the computers: I installed Mr. I provided them with flash drives that had all of the mods, maps and documents they would need.ĭay 1: Beginning build and Redstone lesson.Īfter some getting-to-know you activities, I told students they could sit next to one or two people they would like to build with. I decided early that the kids could make a creative map and design anything they wanted, on a safe school server – and that I would provide mini-lessons every day to add a little more to their Minecraft toolkits so they could build even better things at home. The kids loved it and I had a wonderful week. I am still able to use the old MinecraftEDU, and I did. It is extremely frustrating – I believe in this tool and think our kids will really benefit from using it in classrooms, and our progress as a district has been completely shut down. I had JUST convinced a whole bunch of colleagues to purchase MinecraftEDU, and a couple of them had JUST gotten the funding approved, when we found out we could no longer purchase MinecraftEDU – and the new Minecraft: Education Edition is not an option for us at all because of our operating systems. I would love to use it, but it’s only going to be available on Windows 10 and my district’s IT department has been very clear that we are not moving to Windows 10 this year. Microsoft is re-writing and re-releasing the educational version as Minecraft: Education Edition. Unfortunately, as you can tell if you follow the link above, the old MinecraftEDU is now in transition. It hit me about a week before the institute that I was getting paid to play Minecraft all day long – living the dream!!Īt the beginning of this school year, I purchased licenses for MinecraftEDU and I love it.

This year, I had the pleasure of teaching a Minecraft Explorations class during the morning and afternoon. I wish school could feel like this all year long. I teach classes at our district STEM institute every summer (find the website here: ). I will write about that experience as well, but am moving in reverse-chronological order, starting with the most recent project. I have not blogged in a very long time! A lot has happened in this exciting semester, including being honored as an Allen Distinguished Educator and getting to work with a phenomenal team to create resources to share with the public.

Screencast o matic minecraft