New learning tools for Minecraft game

A new educational version of the hit game Minecraft may be available in the UAE later this year.

The version will allow teachers to enter worlds created by students and set them innovative challenges.

“To keep students interested in the whole education process, we believe that we need to go into the student world and not try to push them into our world. We are developing a teacher edition of Minecraft which will be released very soon this summer,” said Ahmed Ashour, regional education sector lead, Microsoft.

“Minecraft is an environment kids live, create and collaborate in so we want to create an environment for teachers to go into the student environment ... they can give them a test to go and build a fortress, build a dam that will hold water for this amount of time and try to generate electricity out of it. So you can teach engineering, physics, any subject, but in a fun way for students.”

The launch across various countries will begin in a few months and the company in the UAE is pushing for a rollout here in time for the coming academic year.

Microsoft Corp acquired the Stockholm-based games developer Mojang and the company’s popular Minecraft video game franchise two years ago.