Yes, you heard correctly, Microsoft are promoting the use of Mojang's Minecraft game in the classroom. The company has launched a site aimed at teachers and other educators, encouraging them to weave Minecraft into their lesson plans.
Microsoft bought game developing company, Mojang, back in 2014 for a reported fee of $2.5billion. Ever since, Microsoft has been trying to use the contents of the Minecraft game for both commercial and educational gain.
This new site was announced by Anthony Salcito, Microsoft's vice president of worldwide education, as he offered a few examples of how Minecraft could succeed (or is already succeeding) in the educational sector.
He said: "Elementary students in Seattle are learning foundational math skills by calculating perimeter, area and volume in Minecraft during a Saturday math program. Middle school students in Los Angeles are learning about major world religions as part of their humanities class. They are visiting sacred sites in their city, researching international sites and then building them in Minecraft."
Alfriston College students in New Zealand are partnering with Auckland War Memorial Museum to learn the history of the New Zealand people who served in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign by re-creating the landscape in Minecraft, block by block. Middle schoolers are learning the building blocks of computer science in an online Minecraft coding camp. Elementary students in Scotland are learning about city planning and engineering by reimaging, redesigning and then building in Minecraft what they think Dundee waterfront should look like.”
Millions of children already play Minecraft at home, with the game accessible on PC, Xbox or Playstation platform. The accessibility of the game could make this project a successful one, encouraging children from an early age to not just enjoy gaming, but use it to their advantage.
Criitics of the project might well suggest that this is just a publicity stunt to promote the game, however Microsoft have insisted that this could very well be a successful project. Only time will tell.
