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"Minecraft is a simple, clumsy-looking little game full of blocky graphics and unclear terms of play. It is essentially a giant sandbox of digital legos that players can do with what they wish-tear stuff down, dig holes, or build dizzying towers of complex design and architecture. And it's a perfect analogue for what's possible in learning. First off, let's be clear-it's a huge, huge hit. Minecraft has sold over 20,000,000 copies to date. It is available for iPad, Android, PC, and Xbox (though sadly, not the PS3), and is quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon. What makes it popular with children is tempting to oversimplify, but five characteristics really stand out."

"Minecraft: Education Edition is coming to the iPad platform in September. The iOS version will share the features found in other versions, including the Update Aquatic package for underwater STEM activities and the Chemistry Resource Pack. It will include a touch interface that is "functionally equivalent to the standard control scheme for the game," according to Microsoft, which owns Minecraft."

"Wondering how to effectively engage students in interactive learning? Before we explore five steps to game-based learning with Minecraft: Education Edition, let's recall why engagement remains important. If students don't care, they fail to learn. Some of the top ways to engage students include:"

"Michael Fullan (2013) describes critical thinking as the "ability to design and manage projects, solve problems, and make effective decisions using a variety of tools and resources" (p. 9).  Papert (1980) supports exercises that "open intellectual doors" (p. 63).  Minecraft tasks can be used to create experiences that can be otherwise challenging to design, which according to Drake (2014), should address real-world problems that may not necessarily have one clear answer.  Digital tools such as Minecraft demand higher order thinking skills, which include "the ability to think logically, and to solve ill-defined problems" and "formulating creative solutions and taking action" (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016, p. 12)."

"This year's Computer Science Education Week is upon us and, as many teachers know, it brings the opportunity to show students that they, too, can code. Through fostering a global movement during this week, using the Hour of Code and an enormous social-media campaign, technology giants including Microsoft are offering educational tools, such as Minecraft: Education Edition, to develop student interest in coding. This year, Microsoft has updated its Minecraft: Education Edition tutorial, providing greater opportunities to students for learning to code and more educational tools to educators when introducing this subject."

"Minecraft is a cultural phenomenon. The block-based exploration and crafting game was snapped up by Microsoft for $2.5 billion last year and has helped inspire competitors from giant toy companies like Lego. Even the government is interested in building on Minecraft's success: The Department of Education is helping fund a project known as "Eco" that looks a lot like Minecraft, except with a few added twists: There's a looming ecological disaster and players must band together to make a community -- agreeing on laws and living in harmony with the environment. If they fail, the world dies forever. Strange Loop Games, the company behind the game, describes it a "global survival game" and says failure results in "server-wide perma death.""

"Well, it's been a long time coming and probably the worst kept secret around the Minecraft in education community but our book on Minecraft is just about to be published/available!"

"We know that kids love computer games and will spend hours on end totally engrossed in them. But "education games" are often neither educational nor much fun. The challenge is to find a way to organize, implement, manage, assess, guide and provide ample learning opportunities and still keep games fun. Minecraft - a wildly popular game that kids just can't stop playing - is changing that. I have found that Minecraft combined with design-based learning is the most powerful educational tool I have ever seen!"

"Minecraft: Spatial Sense, Structures & Growing Patterns"

"Whether it's Minecraft or duct tape wallets, the childhood passions that seem like fads, if not totally unproductive, can alternatively be seen as mediums for experiencing the virtuous cycle of curiosity: discovering, trying, failing and growing. At DIY, we've created a way for kids to explore hundreds of skills and to understand the ways in which they can be creative through them. Often, the skills are unconventional, and almost always the results are surprising. I don't think it's important that kids use the skills they learn on DIY for the rest of their lives. What's important is that kids develop the muscle to be fearless learners so that they are never stuck with the skills they have. Only this will prepare them for a world where change is accelerating and depending on a single skill to provide a lifetime career is becoming impossible."

"At this point, some of you are probably sick of hearing about Minecraft. It has gone from game to phenomenon, selling bajillions of copies and crowding the mindscape of 6th graders everywhere for what seems like centuries. But before you go, there may be some lessons you can takeaway for your classroom-lessons that can help promote the creativity in students you've been looking for."

"Teachers are always looking for ways to educate and engage. I read, observe, listen and try to integrate meaningful platforms and experiences into student learning so that my students are drawn to the event. I'm no different than any other teacher; we know that engagement matters. So with that in mind, let's talk about Minecraft. Children are crazy about it--they collaborate and create for hours. They LOVE it and want it at school. They are always talking about it, asking for it, and relaying stories about it. I've tried it a few times, and must admit I've yet to understand it well, but my son assures me that as soon as I get the hang of it I'll be hooked."

" Rey Junco Apr 28 2014, 12:36 PM ET 38 inShare More (Mike Prosser/flickr) All video games are not created equal. I wouldn't recommend we encourage youth to play just any game. I doubt transferable skills are learned by repeatedly flapping a bird into a drainage tube. The best educational interventions are those that meet youth where they are and use the energy associated with that space to encourage learning. So where are the youth? Minecraft."

""What's it called again, Craftmine?" I wondered aloud with a confused look on my face to a classroom full of nine year olds, playing dumb the whole time. "It's MINECRAFT!" they all yelled back in unison, smiling and laughing at how out-of-touch their teacher was with their world."

A primary school in England used Minecraft for a whole school, cross-curriculum project. Inspiring stuff.

"Excited shouts of "left, left, left", "knock down that tree" or "pick up that stone" can only mean one thing: your students have discovered the virtual world of Minecraft. Since its launch in 2011, children and adults worldwide have spent hours creating unique environments. The video game generates a blank landscape of different terrains that players explore. They construct buildings, mine for useful materials and, depending on what mode you're in, may have to defend yourself from attacks or stave off hunger"

"One of the world's most popular video games has made significant inroads into K-12 classrooms, opening new doors for teaching everything from city planning to 1st graders to physics for high schoolers. The game, of course, is Minecraft, a 21st-century version of Legos in which players use simple 3-D digital blocks to build and explore almost anything they can imagine."

"With the popular explosion of Minecraft among middle schoolers and beyond, it's worth noting that it isn't the only open world virtual environment with educational value. Nor is it always the most ideal game for teaching every concept, leading other games to pick up the slack. As a result, inspired educators and students are taking notice and branching out."

"Teachers should use the hugely popular children's digital game Minecraft to help teach maths, design, art and geography, research from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) shows."