Recently Microsoft has announced that Minecraft: Education Edition is now receiving major updates as the school season gets closer and closer. One of these major updates includes making the program avalible on Chromebooks (a type of computer that most schools have available for their students). Along with this new software, Minecraft: Education Edition will now be allowing the program to work together through cross-play on multiple devices (such as Ipad, Mac, and Windows). As of now Minecraft: Education Edition is now priced at $5 USD per individual, or schools can buy a site-wide volume license from Microsoft. For those that are still unsure about using this program though, Microsoft is allowing people to trial run twenty-five sessions before they are forced to either purchase the program or cancel their subscription.
Minecraft: Education Edition was specifically designed with teachers and students in mind to help support them through the educational difficulties that the pandemic brought. As teachers are able to interact with their students no matter where they are in the world, Classroom mode also allows them to facilitate different spaces such as classrooms, chalkboards, and laboratories. Different subjects like math, science, and history are all able to be taught through specific Subject Kit specifically designed for Minecraft: Education Edition and feature everything from notes to premade lesson plans for use.
The second part of this major update includes programming that provides support for both remote and hybrid learning. As this update is automatically applied for those on Chromebooks, other devices will have to download it manually. According to The Verge, users on Android devices (such as phones) will also have this automatic update as well. But along with this automatic update, both teachers and students will have to make sure they have the latest Chromebook and software update. With this update, teachers and students must also have Microsoft 365 account or a purchasable license through the game’s Microsoft Store. The last feature in this update also says that Microsoft will be trying to find a way for users to log in using their Google accounts, but there was no specific date given for when this will be available.