North Carolina Teams With Microsoft To Bring Minecraft CS Curriculum To All Middle Schoolers

Long-time Slashdot reader theodp writes: [T]he North Carolina Dept. of Public Instruction on Monday issued a press release announcing it's going all-in on Microsoft's idea of having kids learn to code by using Minecraft and will be bringing a Minecraft-based CS curriculum to the state's 340K middle schoolers. From the press release:

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction announced today a collaboration with Microsoft and [Dublin-headquartered] Prodigy Learning to bring the award winning 'Coding in Minecraft' credential program to all middle school students across the state over a three-year period. [...] The deployment of the program starts with providing access to up to 8,000 students and 200 educators during year one and exposure for every middle school student by year three. In all, the program has the potential to reach nearly 340,000 students and more than 14,000 educators.

"We are pleased to see that the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and Prodigy Learning are building tailored experiences that can inspire students with the possibilities of computer science through Minecraft," said Paige Johnson, vice president of Education Marketing at Microsoft. "North Carolina is harnessing the intrinsic engagement that happens when students play games to teach them the critical skills of computational thinking, coding and computer science. By combining the immersive Minecraft: Education Edition platform with critical curriculum, students will be better prepared for college and career."

Combining fun and learning

[CaptQuark]

Combining fun and learning is usually a good way to teach. Admit it, how many of us had fun with the Google Doodle with the simple programming steps? https://www.google.com/doodles... [google.com]

Using an environment most kids are familiar with also helps and perhaps one that the student finds interesting can keep their attention just a little longer. Imagine if the Intro to Programming 101 was set in the environment of Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto, Hyrule, Halo, or Half-Life. Perhaps selecting the learning environment

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[Joce640k]

That's a long, long way from "coding" though.

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[Ambvai]

That was an interesting Doodle that I haven't seen before... And also incorrect; you can do the sixth one in 4 steps, despite how it claims 6 is the shortest solution.

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[AmiMoJo]

You can actually write code in Super Mario World for the SNES. There is a bug that lets you put arbitrary values into RAM and then execute them as machine code. The fastest way to complete the game is to enter a jump instruction that takes you to the end credits and execute it.

So Wrong - where are the actual teachers?

[Canberra1]

BS: Students play games to teach them the critical skills of computational thinking, coding and computer science. Rubbish- big difference between computer studies(applied) and real computer science. So does throwing water balloons from a moving car (physics, gravity, momentum), or giving a bricklayer a brick, and then now say you can now build cathedrals. Or an NFL want-to-be, a ball. What this is about might be group inclusion, and the soft trade of visual assembly, just as you may paint by numbers. Because if the kids actually learnt logic, and media manipulation, certain politicians and leaders would never get elected.

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[KingBenny]

i probably had five hours of IT in school of which four were spent to explain what the plug , the power button and a floppy was - if i ever dabbled anything else myself i taught myself - - - my worry is its microsoft, there must be a hidden agenda about tracking your sisters panties to it

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[Hasaf]

Sorry, but as a Middle School Computer teacher, I understand both your frustration and the reason the schools teach so little. I have repeatedly tried to teach "how computers work." It never goes well.

The Kids, and the parents, complain that it is too hard. That is true, the kids arrive without being anywhere near grade level and any grade level material is too hard. Then the administration complains that not only is the grade-level material too hard but that my class can not be replicated by the other

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[Canberra1]

Teacher. I feel for you. The BEST way to teach is have another bright kid explain how he does it. That is how Japan, China and Korea, Singapore had stellar academic improvements. You are also confirming KPI is on a detour. Hard to sell Math and STEM are fun. The outrage is having spokespersons with a fistful of money making unjustified exaggerations stacked with buzzword soundbites unrelated to the activity or action. Perhaps the parents need to know what you said, really happens.

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[KingBenny]

looking at "the scene" 20 years later i still feel the greatest coders learned most of it by themselves and out of sheer curiosity - schools tend to lag behind on a lot of things anyway - the problem used to be printed books are outdated the moment they hit the shelves and still is "everything needs to be state-stamped(also in the great democracies of the *cough* ... west ?? lol)
then there's money ... i think scratch and simple things like that are a good idea, not learning how to use windows applications

Huh? Minecraft Educational Edition exists

[UnknownSoldier]

Why is this news? Minecraft Education Edition has existed for years [minecraft.net] You can even do chemistry [youtube.com] in it. The fact that chemistry isn't available in vanilla (Java / Bedrock) Minecraft is really disappointing and a wasted opportunity.

People have also been interfacing Python with Minecraft for years.

I don't see how this won't just be another gimmick that won't last.

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[imidan]

Minecraft Education Edition is a teaching tool. "Coding in Minecraft" is a curriculum that uses the Minecraft Education Edition teaching tool. So it is a package that provides teaching materials, an organizational portal, assignments for students to complete, and so on. Teaching tools are great, but in my experience a lot of tools are built, then provided to teachers with little training or curriculum support, which means they don't get used very much. Maybe this particular curriculum will last, and maybe i

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[drinkypoo]

If Microsoft would just release the Education Edition to the general public, then there would be open source curriculums for it. But they don't, they act like nobody outside a formal school environment could ever want it, and/or like it can have no purpose without Microsoft's hand being involved. The best way to get teachers and students using it would be to release it to all Minecraft users, but they won't do that, so clearly they give zero fucks about education and this is all just a scheme to make money

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[angel'o'sphere]

For me it is news. Never heard about a "Minecraft Education Edition" or chemistry in Minecraft.

Replacing what?

[rantrantrant]

So what will playing computer games in class replace? There's been extensive research over 4 decades that has shown little or no educational benefit from playing 'edugames'. Preliminary research also indicates that learning to code doesn't appear to contribute to learning gains in other subjects, e.g. maths or physics. Contrast this with subjects like biology that are strong predictors of academic success in most other subjects. So, what are these schools taking out of the existing curricula to make time fo

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[ShanghaiBill]

So what will playing computer games in class replace?

It is not "playing games". It is writing code for plugins and extensions.

Preliminary research also indicates that learning to code doesn't appear to contribute to learning gains in other subjects,

Citation needed.

Contrast this with subjects like biology that are strong predictors of academic success in most other subjects.

Citation needed.

Re: Replacing what?

[rantrantrant]

Something tells me that even if I did spend the time doing a lit. review on the question, you still wouldn't be convinced. How about you check out Elsevier et al. for yourself? Anyway, the US education system has more pressing issues to deal with, e.g. maths & literacy, & maths-phobic primary school teachers. The USA seems to pay more attention to Sunday school than proper school.

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[sarren1901]

California is looking to drop Algebra from high school. Apparently to many students get stuck here. It hurts their feelings or something, so we need to get rid of it.

Algebra and Geometry should kind of be the baseline for anyone that finishes high school. Math teaches you how to think, and this is important in any field you go into. It's right up there with knowing how to read and write. Bedrock skills that are used in every job.

No idea how they are going to train people to be coders if they can't even unde

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[smooth wombat]

California is looking to drop Algebra from high school. Apparently to many students get stuck here. It hurts their feelings or something, so we need to get rid of it.

Sounds like Tennessee. Parents are upset their children might feel uncomfortable [cnn.com] being exposed to history so they're looking to bar its teaching in schools.

Math teaches you how to think, and this is important in any field you go into.

If you can use imaginary numbers to solve a problem, what does that teach you for life?

Oh we

Re: Replacing what?

[rantrantrant]

Smooth wombat has a point. There's little evidence of 'far transfer' from algebra to other domains of knowledge. Generally, problem solving skills are domain specific, e.g. being good at math problem solving doesn't necessarily make you good at physics problem solving bit if you study both at once, it's possible but not a given, that you might make analogous connections between some of their features. It usually takes explicit instruction across an integrated education programme to coordinate this kind of a

Re: Replacing what?

[rantrantrant]

It is an edugame by definition: Minecraft is a game & it's being adapted to implement educational goals. BTW, the burden of proof is on Microsoft to cite high quality, peer-reviewed, conclusive evidence that the benefits of playing Minecraft in class, i.e. the useful learning gains, outweigh the costs, i.e. the lost benefits from whatever it replaces. Somehow, I doubt the N. Carolina education board broached this question during their sales meeting with Microsoft.

Re: Replacing what?

[rantrantrant]

Re: learning to code, I'm referring to Papert's early forays into teaching kids to control a turtle on a screen with a simplified programming language. Currently, the various big tech entities trying to get a slice of the education pie are simply rehashing more elaborate & obfuscated versions of a 1970s idea that never really took off. As far as I can see, the only new thing here is the amount if money being spent on lobbying to push it into schools.

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[exomondo]

So what will playing computer games in class replace?

You mean because this involves Minecraft, which is a game, you lack the ability to concieve of any other possibility other than it must mean that they are simply "playing games in class"? Or is it that you misunderstand the concept of writing a plugin for a game and think it is the same thing as "playing games"?

And those who fail the Minecraft CS program...

[LordHighExecutioner]

...have a future in lithium mining!

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[chill]

So, ship them off to Rura Penthe [fandom.com]? Fitting.

Our Dear Owners say...

[AndyKron]

Everybody must learn to code for our masters

Mining the depths of

[Growlley]

stupidity!

Microsoft is like an STD

[oldgraybeard]

And everyone needs to help keep STDs out of our schools. It for the children!

Why not Redstone Computing?

[maple_shaft]

There are a 1,000 choices for child friendly coding (Eg. Scratch), but the huge missed opportunity is to teach kids the fundamentals of computing systems with Redstone in Minecraft.

For the uninitiated, redstone in Minecraft allows you to transmit or generate redstone power across and into blocks, allowing for in game automation systems like auto-farming, item sorting and dispensing systems, and many other uses. The neat thing is that when you create a redstone torch, it is either ON or OFF depending on if it is attached to a powered block or not. This allows for the combination of torches and blocks to form all of the required Logic Gates that form the bedrock of a computing system.

While building a Turing Complete computer might be difficult for a child, it presents a real opportunity to teach kids about logic gates, discrete math, latches, flip-flops, adders, and muxers and demuxers, all to solve real automation problems that players will find in the game.

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[Viol8]

Kids can learn digital electronics when they're older. At a younger age they need something easier, and call me old fashioned but

10 print "Dixons are crap"
20 goto 10

etc etc seems a somewhat simpler way to learn to program a computer to me than all the endless point and click visual tools that pop up every year.

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[Slashdot Junky]

Yep! We can then add a counter to limit the output so that we can change text color after ten lines. Learning to program should start with logic and developing the ability to think through problems. The language is secondary. They certainly should stick with actually typing statements. The further away they are from this, the more drag and drop the the tool.