Minecraft Education Edition Early Access Launches Today

 Many, MANY people have played Minecraft, and the range of ages is all over the map. From six year olds to sixty year olds, almost everyone is finding something to love in the Minecraft universe. After purchasing Minecraft, Microsoft instantly launched into an educational component for the title, and that component official launches today in Minecraft Education Edition Early Access.

Here is a statement from Microsoft PR in Canada,

As part of its ongoing commitment to empower students, Microsoft today is releasing Minecraft: Education Edition early access for educators around the world. The early access version of Minecraft: Education Edition is available now, and gives educators a chance to install and try an early version of the experience for free throughout the summer. In May we hosted a Beta program, collecting feedback from more than 2,000 students and educators representing more than 100 schools in 26 countries around the world. Their detailed feedback helped us fine-tune the experience across a diverse set of learning environments.

The early access version of Minecraft: Education Edition that we are releasing today includes several key features that the community told us are important for enhancing the learning environment, including easy classroom collaboration, Non-Player Characters, and camera and portfolio features that allow students to take screenshots of their work and document the development of their projects. We are also releasing updated classroom content and curriculum to help educators get started quickly using Minecraft: Education Edition. Sample lessons range across subjects and age levels, and include “City Planning for Population Growth”, “Exploring factors and multiples”, and “Effects of deforestation”.

This really is a great move by Microsoft to engage educators using a popular platform. This will be exciting for students, engaging for teachers, and educational fun for all. For more on Minecraft: Education Edition please stay with us here at GamesReviews.com for up to date coverage, previews, and reviews!