Microsoft To Release Educational Version of Minecraft (thestack.com) 57
An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft has announced that it will release an educational version of the Minecraft video game after acquiring the minecraft.edu domain and IP. The classroom version of Minecraft will be offered to schools and educators at a discount, and among other innovations will include the facility to create maps which the students can navigate throughout a lesson while recording their in-game activities. Microsoft has emphasized that it does not intend to change Minecraft into a strictly educational program.
They had to buy it (Score:4, Funny)
Microsoft is kinda square.
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Yup, use of their tools, access to student data, and control over outcomes and usage.
And once again Microsoft injects itself into education and defines how it should be done.
And we will NEVER see actual evidence learning Minecraft resulted in better educational outcomes of long-term employment.
This is just more vendor lock-in of schools for what Microsoft has deemed a growth market, and which is being manipulated for their self-serving purposes.
Wow commas in domain names (Score:1, Interesting)
Microsoft should be applauded for its use of commas in domain names Either that or the editors can be commended for being class A dipshits. I leave it to the readers to decide.
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I was trying to lend the editors a period. Much like the period you must be having right now.
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He's not trying to pass himself off as a relevant and respectable news website.
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What makes you think this AC is a he? When we're talking about someone who missed their period, it's usually a she.
How did they get a .edu domain? (Score:2, Informative)
From Educause site:
https://net.educause.edu/edudomain/show_faq.asp?code=EDUELIGIBILITY
1. What are the eligibility requirements for obtaining a name in the .edu domain? .edu domain name is limited to U.S. postsecondary institutions that are institutionally accredited, i.e., the entire institution and not just particular programs, by agencies on the U.S. Department of Education’s list of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies. These include bot
Eligibility for a
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Occam's Razor. I got $10 that says it's a typo on the part of the article writer. No other articles mention them acquiring the domain, just that they're acquiring MincraftEdu (which is at MinecraftEdu.com).
Re:How did they get a .edu domain? (Score:4, Informative)
They didn't.
The URL for Minecraft.EDU is https://minecraftedu.com/ [minecraftedu.com] which is clearly not a .edu domain name.
The .EDU is part of the name of the program, much like how Microsoft .NET does not refer to a .net domain name, but rather a software framework.
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because money
(assuming it even exists, as other comments indicate someone was just jumping the gun and assuming that a brandname was the same as a domain name.)
Re: How did they get a .edu domain? (Score:2)
http://www.unb.edu/ [unb.edu] is not in the us?
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Some places are grandfathered in if they had a .edu domain before the current rules took effect. These are mostly non-US post-secondary schools, like the one you mentioned. If UNB didn't already have one, they would not be eligible for one now.
Minecraft is Sexist (Score:1, Funny)
But like many video games, Minecraft is inherently sexist and patriarchal, as all Minecraft player characters are by default male. Moreover, cis white males. While it is possible for children to design skins in order to play as a trans* character, ultimately this restriction in body type is prejudiced against women, people of colour, those with physical disabilities, and those with non-standard body types. The consequences of releasing this product in its current form range from schools experiencing increas
Re: Minecraft is Sexist (Score:1)
Go die in a fire, you too long didn't read faggot.
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But like many video games, Minecraft is inherently sexist and patriarchal, as all Minecraft player characters are by default male.
I know this is just a troll/SJW joke, but this isn't true. Hadn't played in a while and so therefore hadn't migrated my account to the new format. When I did, and then logged in to play with my son I was a girl. Yes, a white girl, but a girl nonetheless. Previously I had used the default male model (Steve) with no custom skin. The female default model is apparently named Alex.
Now my character model is Deadpool, but that's another story.
Re:Minecraft is Sexist (Score:4, Funny)
AFAIK there's only one type of body in Minecraft: blocky.
You're right about default settings though. Players should get a menu when creating a new character. The first choice would be male or female, followed by skin colour, then hair colour, hair style, zero to two arms, zero to two legs, religion, dietary choice, sex orientation and finally pro-tentacles or not.
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Players should get a menu when creating a new character. The first choice would be male or female, followed by skin colour, then hair colour, hair style, zero to two arms, zero to two legs, religion, dietary choice, sex orientation and finally pro-tentacles or not.
But what if you're a hoopy frood with two heads and three arms?
You insensitive clod!
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I self-identify as a Motie. I am triggered.
My lawyer will be in touch.
Re:Minecraft is Sexist (Score:5, Funny)
To the contrary, Minecraft represents a major breakthrough for the previously marginalized (to the point of near-invisibility) Cubic-American population.
And how DARE you speak of "non-standard" body types? What body type would you oppressively impose as "standard"?
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I believe the appropriate, non-offensive term here is "Voxel-Americans", you insensitive clod!
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The difference between male and female in Minecraft is exactly 3 pixels.
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theodp (Score:2)
Who knew? (Score:1)
Used correctly... (Score:3)
Warning, old guy questions... (Score:1)
Ok, so I've been all over the minecraftedu site, and I can't figure out what a school would actually "do" with this? I mean, are kids supposed to be begrudgingly unplugged from all their shit at home, ferried to their school with their Beats on, then jacked right the hell back in for additional screen time? What could be in there? "Today in school I dug a hole to bedrock then fell in it to kill myself, so I missed the assignment. That's why I had after school detention."
So seriously, is it for like virt
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People have built 8-bit computers from logic blocks [youtube.com]
You can use the logic to build automated systems [google.com].
Watching people build in Minecraft mirrors a lot of what my job looks like working with Simulink.
It's barely a pretty GUI on top of basic logic.
I could see a 6-7th grade course on 'building an automated farm' following tutorials and then breaking down what they did into logic diagrams.
You could easily train 8th & 9th graders in industrial automation tools if they were interested in the subject material.
what for? (Score:2)
I've checked the MinecraftEdu website after reading is has been used for 5 years already. I still don't get what it is that it teaches. Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of edutainment and consider learning through playing a fantastic thing. I just don't understand what Minecraft brings to that. It seems like a massive waste of time where teachers do some half-assed job of putting together something they think will appeal to students who then go through it, rolling their eyes all the time. You know, like m
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So why bother paying M$ for two copies of minecraft, one for at home and one in the class, when pretty simple generic FOSS programs can do the same thing. Why waste that money, not once mind you but again and again and again and, well, you know the drill of the upgrade cycle. Why makes spending 200 million (approximate number of students) times say $50 every couple of years (total 10 billion dollars). So where the hell is the 10 billion dollars of educational worth exactly in this program. Reality is to en
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I get that.
What I don't get is why that requires Minecraft. It seems counter-productive due to complexity. A good fraction of people don't have very good 3d imagination and would finding a top-down 2d world much easier to comprehend.
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I get that.
What I don't get is why that requires Minecraft. It seems counter-productive due to complexity. A good fraction of people don't have very good 3d imagination and would finding a top-down 2d world much easier to comprehend.
Normally I would agree with that statement. In the past I tried 2D systems such as GameMaker and other block-like languages. I tried Alice the past two years which ventured into 3D. The difference with Minecraft is the kids already know it. I took a poll of the kids on the first day of class and only 2 out of 60 had never played Minecraft. That helps quite a bit with the learning curve so we can just focus on the logic. Their final grades were also much better this year and attribute a lot of that to the en
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True, familiarity provides a benefit here.
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Familiarity. It requires Minecraft because everyone under the age of 16 has heard of it and most of them have played it. It is a simple virtual world where children can gather and learn, and possibly even experiment.
This is precisely why Microsoft bought Mojang. Having a port to the dying Windows Phone was nice but not really the reason. Having a special port for Windows 10 that connects with Pocket Edition players was something that they could have got if they simply asked Mojang and 4J for. Getting e
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Yes, that's the same shit they use to teach students programming in university these days.
I admit it teaches about loops and conditions.
I still think it's a stupid idea because it doesn't teach about error handling, for example, one of the most important things to learn as a programmer.
But in any case this is for teaching programming. Something that I'll argue is completely unnecessary for 99% of the population. (and yes I know that there's this idea to teach programming to everybody, I just consider it tot
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8-bit computers [youtube.com]
& Automated farms [google.com]
Teachers don't have to know anything. "Follow these good tutorials" or better yet. "Here's your project for the semester". Building the logic by hand they might accidentally learn basics.
Teach them to change the colors of anything in the game. Teach them hex and how to count to 16.
I used to hack around in a hex editor to change how much money I started with in Oregon Trail.
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Teach them to change the colors of anything in the game. Teach them hex and how to count to 16.
Isn't that a little the wrong way around, like a solution searching for a problem? 99% of the population never need the hexadecimal system in their real life, and the rest will pick it up in much easier ways. A website with a javascript colour picker would serve the same purpose.
NGOML (Score:2)
Does it run for five minutes then pop up a message saying "Go read a goddam book"?
Ready Player One? (Score:1)
Can I get credits ... (Score:3)
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