Answering Your Questions And Looking For Feedback About Minecraft: Education Edition

[Neal Manegold]

Hello everyone, my name is Neal Manegold, and I work on our Minecraft education team focused on educator outreach and community. I’ve met many of you already in person or through e-mail, Twitter, or other channels.

 

Since our team is back from the BETT show this past week, I’m able to read through the multiple threads focused on the MinecraftEdu IP acquisition news and the Minecraft: Education Edition announcement.

 

What I’ll try to do here is answer what I can at this time, and offer opportunities for feedback with our team as we continue to develop Minecraft: Education Edition up to our launch this upcoming summer. 

How will MinecraftEdu’s features make it into Minecraft: Education Edition? We have spent a good amount of time not only with some of you in this community but also with Joel and others from TeacherGaming as well. We have reviewed and prioritized every feature currently offered in MinecraftEdu. Some of the features are already in place, such as build allow and deny blocks, and others will be forthcoming. We look forward to sharing news about additional features as we get closer to product launch. If there are current MinecraftEdu features, such as special blocks or teacher controls, that you'd like to work differently, share that in our feedback forums (more on this below).

Will my MinecraftEdu worlds work with Minecraft: Education Edition? Minecraft: Education Edition worlds are based off a separate will be built on a different code base from MinecraftEdu. Worlds will need to be built natively in the Minecraft: Education Edition code base to work appropriately. 

Will Minecraft: Education Edition include a separate retail license for Minecraft? Minecraft: Education Edition will be sold as a stand-alone product. One advantage of a per-player license model by student is that the software itself can be placed onto hardware at home, school, libraries, after-school programs, or other locations, so that students users can log in and work on their Minecraft projects regardless of location. The single student sign in also enables a personalized and secure profile for each individual student.

What about platforms, what will Minecraft: Education Edition support? We understand many in the community use devices using running on a variety of versions of Windows or other operating systems. Since we are early in development, we don’t have specific details on platform availability at this time, but look forward to sharing more as soon as these details are available.

How will I purchase Minecraft: Education Edition and what will the pricing be? Our estimates for individual licenses are $5 per user per calendar year. We will also offer volume pricing for schools and districts, and look forward to sharing these details in the coming months. The user licensing model ensures students and educators will be able to use Minecraft: Education Edition wherever the software is installed.

How will Minecraft: Education Edition teach my students to code? The Minecraft Education team recently developed the Minecraft Hour of Code experience for tens of millions of students. While Minecraft: Education Edition and the Minecraft Hour of Code tutorial are two very different experiences, they were developed by the same team. We remain committed to supporting computational thinking and learning to code initiatives, and look forward to sharing more about our efforts around Computer Science and coding in the near future.

How will I manage a Minecraft: Education Edition server? There is no requirement for a server with Minecraft: Education Edition. Due to discovery capabilities, any instance of Minecraft: Education Edition can act as host or client for a multiplayer experience of up to 40 students. This enables students within a class to work in smaller groups, or an entire class to work together, depending on the need for that particular lesson or experience.

You didn’t answer my questions. How can I contact you? Feel free to leave your questions in this thread and we will do our best to answer as we know more of the details. Or, we’ve recently set up feedback forums built on UserVoice. You can find these either by selecting “FEEDBACK” at the top of the page at http://education.minecraft.net/ or find the forum directly at https://minecraft.uservoice.com/forums/345414-minecraft-education-edition. You can also find a feedback widget at http://education.minecraft.net/resources/ about halfway down the page.

I know I have not been able to answer every question in this post. Please feel free to reply here, or use our feedback forum linked above. Our team will make every attempt to get out the answers to your questions and concerns just as soon as those decisions are made. We look forward to listening to and partnering with you to inform how we build Minecraft: Education Edition together.

Neal

 

[Matt Coia]

Hi Neal, 

Thanks for all that information!  We appreciate that you are reaching out to the thousands of teachers who are a part of this little group. 

We've heard a lot of questions surrounding the use of mods with EE, which I don't anticipate being possible unless they are created in-house at Microsoft and offered as add-on modules or something. There have also been many questions about things like command blocks, which are part of the PC edition but not PE at this time. 

But one of the biggest, most fundamental and most useful functions of MinecraftEDU is one that I have not heard anything about yet. What is the plan for designating a teacher player vs a student player in EE?  So far, it sounds as though everyone will be on equal ground as far as permissions go. Having the ability to monitor and control what happens in the classroom Minecraft environment is vital to how many teachers use this tool. I sincerely hope that this is not a feature that will be overlooked as EE is developed. I have to assume there will be some sort of provision for this, else the build allow/deny blocks that you mentioned would hold zero value. 

Again, thanks for participating in this group. We look forward to many fruitful interactions in the future!

Cheers!

Matt Coia

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[Michael Harvey]

Hi Neal,

Thanks for joining us. 

I have several questions, but I'd like to start by asking about the free trial that we've heard will be extended to MinecraftEdu users. How exactly will this work? For example, I currently use MinecraftEdu with about 470 students. Will I be able to create temporary accounts for each of these students through the trial? If my school doesn't have access to hardware with a compatible operating system, can we postpone the trial until we do? I will certainly be interested to try the new Education Edition, and I appreciate the offer of a trial. However, my school just approved a order to re-outfit my computer lab with MacBook Airs. I am hoping as customers of MinecraftEdu for the past four years that we will not excluded from the offer just because it is now a Microsoft product.

Mike Harvey

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[Pamela Rickard]

Hello Neal,

Thank you for offering to answer our questions.

I teach coding using the ComputerCraft mod which incorporates turtle robots. My classes are middle school quarter-long classes which last six weeks. My students only need their subscription license for this class for six weeks rather than a year. Will there be a price structure for teachers in situations like mine? I will not be able to afford $5 per student per year price structure.

My district will not be moving to Windows 10 for another two years. We are still in Windows 7. Will the year free trial be available to my school in two years when we are ready to make the switch as Mike Harvey has requested?

I am also very interested in the teacher control issues Matt Coia brings up.

Thank you for your time.

Pam Rickard

Los Osos Middle School, San Luis Coastal Unified Schools

[Pamela Rickard]

Oh, I'd like to say I am VERY interested in command blocks. It is an ESSENTIAL component of what I do in my STEM elective class. Thanks again!

On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 7:04:07 PM UTC-8, Neal Manegold wrote:

[Pamela Rickard]

Another thought regarding pricing.

I periodically run a lunchtime MC competition. Students compete in activities which promote team-building such as scavenger hunts or creating 3D sculptures. These competitions run four weeks. It seems the yearly subscription price will not allow me to continue this type of activity.

Thank you for allowing me to give this feedback.

On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 7:04:07 PM UTC-8, Neal Manegold wrote:

[EduElfie]

Hi Neal and thanks for joining us on the group and giving everyone here the opportunity to be heard.

My biggest question at the moment is how the accounts will work. My school just upgraded all our machines to a Windows 10 image, but how is that going to work with accounts? We do not log into our Microsoft accounts when we log into the school computers, we authenticate against our active directory. My Microsoft account is my own personal one, and I don't believe I have a 'school' Microsoft account. So how are students going to access EE from school and from home in this situation?

Is your structure more leaning towards schools where students use personal devices rather than school owned labs/trolleys?

Also, being completely untested for me, how will this all work within an authenticated proxy network, I know that every government school in Victoria is behind a proxy that currently prevents authentication to Mojang's server, I also know the same occurs in at least 3 other states in Australia. Will we be able to log into our Microsoft/Xbox accounts from within a school network in this case?

So I guess in summary, will we be able to log into our 'personal' Microsoft accounts within an active directory network through a proxy to be able to access EE?

The other question I had was along the same lines as Matt, you mention that there is no requirement for server software and that students can open up games to each other at any time, how does this work with the teacher/student interactions that happen in this virtual space, will we have different 'levels' of access? I don't use the student management tools in MCEdu much any more, but to set up the expectations within that virtual space I certainly do with every new class. Also as someone who has been helping other teachers get started on the Minecraft in Ed journey, these tools are a very important factor in the comfort levels of those new to the space.

I feel that a key principle in introducing Minecraft in an educational setting is students understanding that Minecraft at home is different to Minecraft in school. While I also understand that this may not be the vision that Microsoft has for EE since you are expecting students to be able to access it from any device and continue their learning outside of the school setting. However, I still think that this is an important distinction to make to students. As teachers it is our role to educate our students on how to behave appropriately in different situations, how is EE going to assist us in making the distinction between the 'play' Minecraft space and the 'learn' Minecraft space that those of us that have been around a while are trying to merge into the amazing lessons that we want to use with our students over and over again?

Elfie.

[EduElfie]

I just checked with my technician, and he said that the only way we could get it to work (if I understand the current set up correctly) would be to have generic computer accounts, so for example RM1CPTR1 would be the MS account for the 1st computer in room 1, then students would use that account to access MCEE within school, but that would not work for home access, nor would it be a 'per student' or personal account.

Elfie.

[Janet Cook]

Regarding these issues, it'll be a while before we switch to Win10, also, so I hope our trial times are extended to account for that.

Also, seat licenses would be better than individual licenses.  I also have kids for nine weeks at a time for class and just once a week for club kids.  I can't afford licenses for ALL of them but could do for my classroom's worth of 25 computers.

I, too, am interested in monitoring issues and would love some kind of clear tutorials for getting started and programming, much like Hour of Code offers.

[Joel S.]

Great questions, Elfie. Your concerns reflect our school's concerns as well. One of the foundations of our MC Edu program is helping students understand the difference between Minecraft at home vs Minecraft at school. Student management is, without question, one of the most important components of Minecraft EDU. Having the ability to freeze students, teleport to their location (and them to mine), and controlling many other factors is what makes this such an effective tool for schools. 

[Neal Manegold]

Hi everyone, back with some answers to your questions. I'm sure there are some I'm missing but I'll try to get to all of them as available. Know that some of these answers feel incomplete because our work is ongoing. We are also sharing all of your thoughts with our development team, so even though there might not be every answer at this point, your thoughts are directly informing the work we do as we build Minecraft: Education Edition.

Will we get command blocks in Minecraft: Education Edition? Command blocks are part of the work we are doing to bring Windows 10 and Pocket Edition up to parity with Java Minecraft. I don’t know which update will include command blocks just yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as we have a date.

 

Will I be able to set permissions as teacher and student accounts? Minecraft: Education Edition users will be given teacher and student roles in the game according to their Office 365 accounts and we have an in-game construct that allows us to differentiate between a teacher and a student. We’re still developing the feature set. What teacher controls do you use today?

 

How will licenses be allocated for current MinecraftEdu customers? We will email each MinecraftEdu customer in the next 60 days with details of the free offer which will include a one year subscription for each seat purchased. Eligible education institutions will also be eligible for the free trial offer starting this summer.

 

Can I defer free licenses for current MinecraftEdu customers? We are still working out some of the details on when the free licenses for MinecraftEdu customers will begin, if deferring them is possible, and other pieces. As soon as I have a complete answer on this topic I will share those details with all of you. 

 

My Microsoft account is my own personal one, and I don't believe I have a school-connected Microsoft account. So how are students going to access Minecraft: Education Edition from school and from home in this situation? You and your students will need to sign in with your school Office 365 account. You can check your email address here to see if you’ll be ready. If your school doesn’t have Office 365, you can sign up for free.

How will student management and teacher controls work in Minecraft: Education Edition? We've spent a good amount of time so far with the TeacherGaming team and listening to many of you about how you use teacher controls, student management and other tools to work with MinecraftEdu and your students. We're excited to share more details about these features as they are designed and developed with your input.

[Pamela Rickard]

Thanks, Neal, for your quick and thoughtful response to our questions! 

I realize you do not have all the answer as of yet, but I'm hoping Microsoft will consider a price structure that will accommodate monthly licenses, "seat" licenses, or such.

Teacher tools that I use: teacher creative mode, build allow, build disallow, border blocks, teleport blocks, home blocks, the ability to give select students or all students items, spawn point, freeze all students, mute students in chat, freeze select students, teleport select students to me, teleport myself to select student, weather controls, time controls, keep inventory, students can fly. Wow, that's probably close to all of the teacher controls! :D

All of the build tools! Such as long distance build, fill/clear tool, place amount!

Also very interested in mods such as custom NPCs and ComputerCraft if you could pass this along as well. :)

Thank you for help! Looking forward to see what develops!

On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 7:04:07 PM UTC-8, Neal Manegold wrote:

[Michael Harvey]

Thanks for the answers, Neal. Quick clarification question about the following:

"How will licenses be allocated for current MinecraftEdu customers? We will email each MinecraftEdu customer in the next 60 days with details of the free offer which will include a one year subscription for each seat purchased. Eligible education institutions will also be eligible for the free trial offer starting this summer."

Does this mean that I have 25 MinecraftEdu user licenses (that I use with 475 students on rotating basis) that I will only be able to redeem a free subscription for 25 individual students? If I wanted to continue using this with my other students, would need to purchase an additional 450 licenses to use during the "free" subscription?  I was previously assuming the free offer would allow me to use the new program with all of my existing students who use MinecraftEdu. Could you clarify?

[EduElfie]

Hi Neal, thanks for taking the time to respond, in answer to your question about the teacher controls I use:

The tools I regularly use, in class, and when building maps are (and it is really handy to have shortcut keys assigned to these, I have listed mine, but being able to assign them would be the ideal solution):

Creative mode self - c

Long build - r

Fill/clear - f

Build mode (mostly used for the no-clip) - v

Ability to set the world spawn. 

Teleporting to and from students (and the world spawn). I know this can be done with commands, but buttons are way easier and quicker, if this could be redesigned a bit to add more flexibility that would be great. Sometimes students want to be teleported to each other, so my suggestion (and I will add this to the features page you mentioned Neal) perhaps 2 lists of people on the server, one for 'who' and one for 'to' click each name and then a button for 'execute' (not in the death sense :p).

MinecraftEdu gamemode is very useful at times when you don't want to worry about health/hunger, but also don't want students having access to creative inventory or flying.

Flight mode, for when you don't want the creative inventory, but do want easier movement.

Time set and lock, again easy with commands, but buttons are quicker.

I do use freeze on very rare occasions in a disciplinary way (or just to get them out of the classroom). I know this has caused a lot of controversy in the community mostly centred on student 'rights' in the virtual space, but I think it is a worthwhile option to have. I have actually used this as part of a learning activity where students had to work collaboratively with limited lives, when those lives ran out, the command was triggered, discussions happen, and then we start again. Yes, I could do this activity without the freeze command, but again, if we are talking what is easier for teachers then having the option is important.

Difficulty settings, a gui here is better than commands again. 

Turning off weather.

Toggle for PVP is I feel essential, I have not used PVP at all in my classes, but I know some people have, so having the toggle is better than only having OFF.

I don't use it all the time, but it the give menu is extremely helpful, I can again use the commands, but it is easier to use the gui as I don't need to remember the ID numbers (or in 1.8 type in the sometimes cumbersome name of the item).

As I have mentioned several times, a lot of these features can be done with commands, but as a teacher on the 'fly' in the classroom, sitting at my computer and typing in commands is clunky and I feel that having a gui is a time saver and means that newcomers don't need to learn all the commands unless they want to.

They are probably the essentials for me as a teacher/creator. All the other features in MinecraftEdu are of course useful in their own right and I probably use them more than I think I do right now. One of the great things about Minecraft as a learning space is its flexibility. The more options we have towards increasing flexibility the better, it is adding to the current flexibility that is going to be the key to getting more teachers on board and using this great space.

Stephen.

[Lisa Douthit]

Neal,

Thank you for taking time to listen to this great group of people. I mirror most of the questions and thoughts on this page, especially the mods, the teachers controls. Most important is that I am about to get a few Win 7 machines which I will use with a couple of MacMinis and the teacher MacBookAir. The ability for this to run on multiple platforms is very important to me. Having to have 365 accounts for every student is a great concern. 

I also look forward to hearing more about the school vs home difference, especially with the teacher controls mention by Joel S. and also with the extensive amount of worlds many of us have built over the years, whether in the World Library or created by the teacher for a lesson specific to a class. Student "at home" access will create concerns and be hard to "buy into" for us.

I am also interested in hearing about the subscription trial and the answer to the question raised by Mike Harvey on a one year subscription for each seat purchased will work. I will have a very small set of classroom machines using the current MCEdu, but will use with 500 or so students on a rotating basis just within my school.

[colingally]

We probably have to take a big dose of reality here. 

Microsoft wants Office 365 in more schools so having that as a locked entry way in to Minecraft ED makes perfect sense (for them).

One Office 365 login = One Minecraft ED login. That's the way it will be.

I would presume Minecraft ED will support Apple OS in time but Office 365 will still be the entry way.

I would also presume there will be mods but ones that Microsoft include in the program themselves. In other words, limited and not open to people to create mods for it.

Let's face it, the MinecraftEdu deal with user accounts was awesome for us. But does not make any sense in the "making a profit to recoup purchasing Minecraft" world. If you bought 25 licenses you will get 25 Minecraft ED accounts. NO way are you getting 500!

I aint no Nostradamus but those are my best guesses.

[Dev]

Agree Colin.

I think writing is pretty clear on the wall... as is the evolutionary path. Listening is cool, and its a corporate end game.

Ill just insert here, get to know and support #indie developers (#indieweb , etc)... its important work, and in need of attention for sustainable relationship models. The more that anyone supports the big institutional strategies, the less personal control ends up in your machinery. Take it for whats its worth. So many efforts hide behind free, but the sustainable model is the big deal. Office 365 is a no-go for many, thats why they explore LibreOffice. Long history here...not preaching, just psa.

Notch "selling out" has many educational lessons that kids are engaging and discussing. Depending how you use Minecraft in your classroom likely affects those interactions. EDU is one story, modding another. I hear a great deal of "we're just going to continue using v1.8".. no story mode...no c++..."... from kids. VR will likely be a game changer in this mindset, but kids are tuned into what was said, then re-said, then actually done...and to them it feels personal. As to where this heads, good luck to all making it work in your situations.

Dev

[Eric]

Looks like World of Humanities will be staying regular Edu for the foreseeable future. 

[Michael Harvey]

Eric, wouldn't that be true of all of the worlds hosted in the world library?

[Neal Manegold]

Hi there, just a quick answer so you don't think I've left and gone away. We are aware there are situations that you, Lisa, and others have where you've been able to purchase a small number of hardware licenses and are using those to support a large population of students. I don't have more details to share with you at this time, just know that I've shared these examples with our team and we're looking into it. The more information we get about how you've implemented MinecraftEdu, the most important features, and so on, the better positioned we are to support you and other educators who are new to Minecraft in the classroom moving forward. -Neal

[Neal Manegold]

Thank you Stephen, I've sent this information over to our team working on features for Minecraft: Education Edition. I'll reach out directly if we need further details or examples on specific feature you listed below. -Neal

[Neal Manegold]

Thanks for your thoughts, it's great to hear that you mirror others as it helps us prioritize as best we can. I do have a question about mods for you and anyone in the group for that matter. I hear a good amount on mods, but depending on the conversation, I hear a small group of mods as the "essentials" if you will, and then others scattered about. Are there mods outside of the required pack for MinecraftEdu and if so, can you list them for our team? Any data is good data here. Many thanks.

[Diane Main]

Mods I consider STANDARD for what I do with my students are Custom NPCs, ComputerCraftEdu, and JourneyMap, though I could live without JourneyMap if there's a comparable map mod or feature set.

Please keep in mind that what I do is really quite limited, using MinecraftEdu currently for just three projects in a semester-length course at the high school level.  There are several people I trust a great deal in this group who can speak more to which mods they'd consider essential.

[Stéphane Cloâtre]

Hello everyone,

Here in France we're still few teachers using MCE but more and more colleagues we're about to start (thanks to MCE incredible features). I think the way MS is shaping his educational Minecraft will freeze this movement : pricing (for sure), compatibility with older OS, office 365 accounts etc.
The fact that students use MinecraftEdu in the classroom under the teacher supervision and not at home is important for me. Most parents here fight to negotiate a reasonable time on video games with their teenagers (or just forbid it). What will happen when their children will ask to play MC for their homework ?? The parents of my students where ok with the introduction of MC in classroom because there is no homework with it and buying it is not compulsory.
I'll go on with MinecraftEdu as long as I can.

[Matt Coia]

Neal, 

Just to be clear, this implementation scenario is more the rule than the exception with regard to Minecraft in the classroom. This is why the per student fee structure is such a hard pill to take for most of us. 

Matt

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[Michael Harvey]

Neal,

In my opinion, these are the most essential mods, for what I do:

"Custom NPCs" - All subjects. This mod allow teahcers provide text-based information in a much more engaging way than sign blocks. NPCs can quickly be configured to provide students with building tools for a project, or trade in quest-type items for rewards. They can be used for everything from teleport stations to in-game quizzes.

"ComputerCraftEdu" - Computer programming. I really hope Microsoft will pay close attention to this, especially as I understand it was part of the acquisition from TeacherGaming (correct me if I'm wrong).  In almost all promotional material I have seen for Microsoft's Minecraft in Education movement, there is some mention of programming or computer science as potential outcomes. However, we are looking at losing compatibility with the best tool for the job. Skeptics of game-based learning are often convinced when you explain the computer science concepts you can teach. Redstone does not cut it. Command blocks, even if it eventually implemented, would not cut it. ComputerCraftEdu delivers on these claims. I worry that it will never be updated past 1.7.10 of the PC edition if Microsoft does not see its value.

Client-side mods like "JourneyMap"/"Zans minimap" - These are simple but powerful tools that could frankly probably be built right into the educational version of the game. So while they don't make the most compelling argument for mod compatibility of those I mention, they do still indicate a feature need that will hopefully be addressed.

[Sarai Gmail]

Yes, I agree. I have enough licenses for my lab, around 30 computers, but I teach close to 300 students Minecraft over the course of the year. There is no way, I could pay a per student price!

Sarai

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[EduElfie]

As with most others Custom NPC's is the first mod I add to an install, the second is actually not one the students see, but is a server based tool called In-GameNBTEdit, which essentially allows me to alter the information connected to items/blocks/entities, which allows me to make custom items for quests or rewards and such, alter in-game entities to suit my purpose (like making them invulnerable, or altering villagers trading options. It also allows the copying of chests if worldedit is not installed.

Worldedit is also an essential mod for me for when I am building, not so much for in-class use.

I like having the mapping mods like Zans/Journeymap for lessons.

Bibliocraft added useful features for me like being able to get in-game books into text files easily, but if you have the ability to export books already, this is merely decorative.

One things that this group regularly gets requests for is a mod that allows people to claim 'plots' of land, so that others cannot interfere with their build.

Lockable chests and doors is also another common request.

Another common request is many worlds on the one server, like multiverse (but if you are not looking at central servers this may not be necessary), I have used Mystcraft to work around this and have multiple worlds hosted on the one server, and qcraft was another option to allow teleporting between servers.

I personally don't see these last few as absolutely essential, but these are commonly requested 'features' by new teachers.

Elfie

[David Goodfellow]

We run educational workshops with children all year and intensively in the summer. We operate these in churches, our own classrooms and community centres.  Most of these facilities do not have reliable internet access.  We just set up our own router for a local network of our own machines.  There would be no way for us to connect to the internet to sign in.  This new model will criple this program and cut off hundreds of students in our community.  We will have no choice but to stay with the current version.

We also lead digital art classes where we show children how to access the texture map resources and paint their own to resskin the entire game.  Will access to the texture map library of the game still be available.  It is great to show children how a computer program is made up of a number of different file types working together, and this activity illustrated the point perfectly.  It was also a great blend of art and technology in a lesson.

We also use many mods to provide a different experience to our students worlds.  This helps separate what they are doing in class from what they are doing at home or on the mobile version.

I would also be curious how intense is the internet traffic when running a lab?  Can a local computer host the game and the others connect to it over the local network, so all gaming traffic is local and only game authentication is over the net?   

If you adopt the per seat license model as most software has been sold from the beginning of time then one suggestion that could work in our case and others who have proxy or lack of internet issues would be to allow them to authenticate the license one time a year at a site with internet, then let it run with out an internet connection for the rest of the year during classes.  Computers could be stage at a central lab and then distributed or be part of a mobil lab from then on.

[Michael Harvey]

Regarding essential mods, I can't believe I left this out, but...

WorldEdit. This tool is absolutely crucial for lesson planning and on-the-fly changes to worlds during class. It's server-side only and it essentially adds a plethora of command that you can type to do a lot of rapid building, copy/paste, schematic importing, etc.

[MisterA]

I've been rather quiet on this, as I was interested to see what would be requested.

I have to say above and beyond mods, teacher tools, and even licenses...I think that one feature definitely requires looking at...and I don't think it is something that will be resolved easily.

Many...I almost would guess most schools have some very strict IT policies that prevent them from connecting to game servers, Minecraft.net, and things of that nature. MCEdu allowed these schools to use it because they did not require going outside the LAN.

I am wondering how this will be handled or what consideration it has in the EE version.

Don't get me wrong, I have my standard build of mods just like some of you have mentioned (CustomNPCs, Bibliocraft, WorldEdit, and JourneyMap), ones in which I could not do the project based learning units I do currently without.

I also have 240 students connecting through my current system...and there is very little chance my admin will agree to give me $5.00 x 240 students every year.

Then like someone else mentioned, I will have issues with Windows 10, as our school district is so far behind we still require Java 6 Update 16 on our systems to allow teachers into the SIS! Add on top of that, I have a lab of Macbooks...

So it will be interesting to see how the bigger issues get addressed as things move forward. The way I see it, there are so many aspects that could prevent MC in the new form keeping in the classrooms.

MisterA

[Pamela Rickard]

I was going to mention World Edit as well!  

And I agree with Shane/Mister A regarding IT policies.

Thank you. 

[Martin Alexandersson]

Den tisdag 2 februari 2016 kl. 04:04:07 UTC+1 skrev Neal Manegold:

Hello everyone, my name is Neal Manegold, and I work on our Minecraft education team focused on educator outreach and community. I’ve met many of you already in person or through e-mail, Twitter, or other channels.

 

Since our team is back from the BETT show this past week, I’m able to read through the multiple threads focused on the MinecraftEdu IP acquisition news and the Minecraft: Education Edition announcement.

 

What I’ll try to do here is answer what I can at this time, and offer opportunities for feedback with our team as we continue to develop Minecraft: Education Edition up to our launch this upcoming summer. 

How will MinecraftEdu’s features make it into Minecraft: Education Edition? We have spent a good amount of time not only with some of you in this community but also with Joel and others from TeacherGaming as well. We have reviewed and prioritized every feature currently offered in MinecraftEdu. Some of the features are already in place, such as build allow and deny blocks, and others will be forthcoming. We look forward to sharing news about additional features as we get closer to product launch. If there are current MinecraftEdu features, such as special blocks or teacher controls, that you'd like to work differently, share that in our feedback forums (more on this below).

Will my MinecraftEdu worlds work with Minecraft: Education Edition? Minecraft: Education Edition worlds are based off a separate will be built on a different code base from MinecraftEdu. Worlds will need to be built natively in the Minecraft: Education Edition code base to work appropriately. 

Will Minecraft: Education Edition include a separate retail license for Minecraft? Minecraft: Education Edition will be sold as a stand-alone product. One advantage of a per-player license model by student is that the software itself can be placed onto hardware at home, school, libraries, after-school programs, or other locations, so that students users can log in and work on their Minecraft projects regardless of location. The single student sign in also enables a personalized and secure profile for each individual student.

What about platforms, what will Minecraft: Education Edition support? We understand many in the community use devices using running on a variety of versions of Windows or other operating systems. Since we are early in development, we don’t have specific details on platform availability at this time, but look forward to sharing more as soon as these details are available.

How will I purchase Minecraft: Education Edition and what will the pricing be? Our estimates for individual licenses are $5 per user per calendar year. We will also offer volume pricing for schools and districts, and look forward to sharing these details in the coming months. The user licensing model ensures students and educators will be able to use Minecraft: Education Edition wherever the software is installed.

How will Minecraft: Education Edition teach my students to code? The Minecraft Education team recently developed the Minecraft Hour of Code experience for tens of millions of students. While Minecraft: Education Edition and the Minecraft Hour of Code tutorial are two very different experiences, they were developed by the same team. We remain committed to supporting computational thinking and learning to code initiatives, and look forward to sharing more about our efforts around Computer Science and coding in the near future.

How will I manage a Minecraft: Education Edition server? There is no requirement for a server with Minecraft: Education Edition. Due to discovery capabilities, any instance of Minecraft: Education Edition can act as host or client for a multiplayer experience of up to 40 students. This enables students within a class to work in smaller groups, or an entire class to work together, depending on the need for that particular lesson or experience.

You didn’t answer my questions. How can I contact you? Feel free to leave your questions in this thread and we will do our best to answer as we know more of the details. Or, we’ve recently set up feedback forums built on UserVoice. You can find these either by selecting “FEEDBACK” at the top of the page at http://education.minecraft.net/ or find the forum directly at https://minecraft.uservoice.com/forums/345414-minecraft-education-edition. You can also find a feedback widget at http://education.minecraft.net/resources/ about halfway down the page.

I know I have not been able to answer every question in this post. Please feel free to reply here, or use our feedback forum linked above. Our team will make every attempt to get out the answers to your questions and concerns just as soon as those decisions are made. We look forward to listening to and partnering with you to inform how we build Minecraft: Education Edition together.

Neal

 

Does this mean if I build a world in the normal Minecraft with just blocks and no actions the world cannot be imported to Minecraft for Edu at all? Maybe it was me who asked you a few fast tech-quetions at BETT. That person had good insight about Minecraft for Education. The person there said it was possible but not easy (as I understand it, not GUI-easy-click-way, but tech-more-hardcore-way). I am planning of put 1000's of hour work into a world now (our town) and the purpose is to use it in the future with Minecraft for Education.

 

[Eric]

CustomNPCs by Noppes (Karel Van Os) is ESSENTIAL - it allows there to be speaking characters in the game world that send students on quests and help deliver a large portion of the educational content in a world.

AnimalBikes by Noppes (Karel Van Os) helps provide learning motivation by allowing there to be pets and other animals in the world.

DynMap allows a teacher to share a "live map" with a class so they can see where they are in a world, and meet up with other students.

ComputerCraftEdu - a large portion of the Edu userbase now also uses Edu to teach basic programming techniques, which are impossible without this mod.

[not a mod, per se] General access to the server files for teachers - this is essential, as it allows teachers to replace textures, insert mods, and download activity logs for data collection, record keeping, and behavior management.

Please see this video: https://youtu.be/5fwMwvRB80k to see what is possible for educational content delivery (and not just in-class building) using these mods.

[Shawn Avery]

My essentials pretty much piggyback on others.

CustomNPCs

WorldEdit

ComputerCraft

I use REI Minimap but any sort of mapping mod

Bibliocraft was mentioned as well. The main feature of it that I use is the ability to add in custom paintings. Being able to create a PNG image and import it in through Bibliocraft has really allowed me to add a lot to the game that is helpful for students. I can add paintings that tie in to different themed projects we're working. I've created a list of rules that can be posted in the spawn area for a reminder to students. I've also found it easier to just create custom paintings of recipes that can be added in instead of using item frames. I would definitely like a way to add custom paintings in. 

[Joel Solomon]

How do you DO this??? I have Bibliocraft and didn't know you could import a .png into Minecraft. Can you please explain how this is done? 

 

Thanks,

Joel S. 

[Shawn Avery]

Hey Joel,

I'll post instructions in the mods section. I don't want to hijack this thread.  I'll be happy to answer any questions about it in there! 

[Lisa Douthit]

Hello -  Thank you for continuing to gather questions and comments. 

Essential Mods:

Custom NPCs

Zan's Minimap (or any current good map essential to help orientation especially since students have limited time in world when in class)

ComputerCraftEdu - Such a huge meaningful way to use coding skills & must be a part of the repertoire of  overall CS skills 

Bibliocraft - adds so much to the book writing & decor as well. 

World Edit - as a teacher setting up lessons and worlds for the students allows much more customization for lessons. Huge time saver which every teacher should love.

Non-mod aspects I use a lot are SpriteCraft & World Painter. These are 3rd party apps that allow you to import pieces and worlds into MC or MCEdu. I use these when building world where I want specific layouts, such as a specific school logo, character in the world or when a specific geological features are needed (i.e. specific state, specific landforms, specific features related to a lesson). Hoping continued used of these will go on as normal.

Similar strict IT policies are a big concern. I was able to obtain TG MCEdu the ability to have a server within the classroom without going through or outside of our District LAN. 

-Lisa

[Deb Borba]

Kind of late to the party, but here's my two cents.  

Essential Mods

• Custom NPCs.  None of my worlds will work without the ability to create Non-player characters that interact with the students.  My worlds have quest givers, traders, etc. that are necessary to the functionality of the world.
• WorldEdit
• Some kind of map

Teacher tools - I truly use every teacher tool in MCEdu.  Teleporting students, freezing them so I can give instructions, muting them, giving them items, setting the spawn point.  Border blocks are essential for me.  They keep my students focused where and on what I want them focused.  Of course, build allow and disallow.

Minecraft at school vs. Minecraft at home.  I will echo some of the thoughts already given.  At the beginning of the year I work hard to explain to my parents that we "use minecraft" at school to learn we don't "play minecraft."  I do not use PVP or hostile mobs in any of my worlds.  I need for Minecraft to be a learning situation that I control in order for my administration and my parents to support my use of Minecraft.  I do not want my students to be able to play in my learning worlds at home.

I agree with Matt, that many of us have a classroom or lab set of licenses and serve a large number of students with those licenses.  The per student pricing is going to be difficult if not impossible.  I imagine I will use MCEdu as long as I possibly can.  That will allow many students to benefit from Minecraft as a learning tool at my school.  If I am forced at some point to buy per student licenses, I will probably do so, with my own money, just like I bought the Minecraft Edu licenses with my own money.  I was willing to put out the $600 or so for server and client licenses because they were seat licenses and I knew I could use them with whichever students came through my class.  And because I believe that the worlds that I and other teachers create with MinecraftEdu create a unique learning environment for students.

My school/district will not pay for Minecraft licenses each year.  I will have to pay myself.  Right now I am the only teacher in my school (and I'm pretty sure the only one in my district) using Minecraft in the classroom.  $5 per student per year will assure that the only students who have an opportunity to use Minecraft at school will be the ones in my classroom, because the other teachers are not even willing to use it now with the licenses I purchased.  They certainly will not pay for licenses on their own. Their students use Minecraft with me.  I truly hope this $5 per student licensing model is not the final word and that there will be some way to accommodate those of us who work to make sure as many students as possible benefit from the educational opportunities that Minecraft at school allows.