Monday, September 15, 2014

Microsoft buys Mojang (and Minecraft)...what about Minecraftedu?

I don't pay too close attention to some of the business side of education and technology, but the news that Microsoft bought Mojang, the company responsible for Minecraft, sure got my attention.  Admittedly, I don't play Minecraft much but that does not mean that I (1) do not see and understand it's appeal and (2) recognize its potentially HUGE impact on education.

I was first introduced to Minecraft about four years ago while teaching computer programming.  It was my students who showed it to me...and I dabbled with it.  I also let some of my students (who had to create an individual final project) use Minecraft as their final project platform.  This choice (as it almost always does) provided the students with much more motivation and drive to complete a project as it was something they wanted to do.  Since then, I have observed the development and explosion of Minecraft as an educational tool/environment used in a variety of ways (like promoting teamwork as @HikariKishi has done and to truly push students to think critically and creatively like @dkiang...both who presented at Kukulu Kaiaaulu 2014: Building Global Communities).  From these examples as well as the numerous resources at the Minecraftedu.com website, it is clear that Minecraft has supported learning in powerful ways and can continue to do so.

Therefore, I am definitely interested in this change as it relates to both the gamer and education realms (of course, my heart lies with the the educational realm more).  I am curious how the creators of the educational version (Teacher Gaming) are going deal with the change in ownership...which has its critics among the gamers.  What is very notable about the change in owners is the fact that the founders of Mojang (Notch, Carl, and Jakob) are LEAVING the company.  This is somewhat scary because it is clear that the educational version is supported by Mojang.

I am curious what others say.  Let the discussion begin and hopefully Teacher Gaming can have some input before anything too troubling happens.  Please share your thoughts!

NOTE: Keep in mind that Minecraft is not a panacea.  It has limitations and can even be implemented poorly, just like any other tool used for education.  Here is nice discussion of the pros and cons of Minecraft in Education.

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1 comment:

  1. […] I don't pay too close attention to some of the business side of education and technology, but the news that Microsoft bought Mojang, the company responsible for Minecraft, sure got my attention. A...  […]

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