Microsoft To Sell 'Minecraft Education Edition' From November 1

In an official announcement, Microsoft has announced to launch 'Minecraft: Education Edition' from November 1 on PCs. Back in January, when Microsoft announced the Minecraft, it was only available to some educators for testing purpose.It was assumed that this video game based product might not be useful in classrooms or for education purpose.

After few initial testing of the product in January, Minecraft was accepted as a virtual world for students and a platform where they can be better engaged with rather than dull classroom sessions.

According to beta news, Minecraft will be available for all users from November 1 and will be sold at windows store. Though is it priced at $5 per user annually, schools can further negotiate the price in case of bulk buying as promised by Microsoft. As reported by windows central.

Minecraft education team states that they will continue to update Minecraft: Education Edition as per the various research and confirmed that new game features will be included from other editions of Minecraft. All the latest updates such as additional player skins, leads and horses, pistons, Redstone functionality, and updated user interface will be included in Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition.

As reported by Engadget, Minecraft team also explained that a unique feature called 'classroom mode' will allow educators to communicate with students, exchange items, manage world setting in the Minecraft clock. It even has a chat window, map view, clock that shows time in various geography and a consolidated list of all students in the Minecraft world. Classroom mode basically helps educators to interact with everyone registered on Minecraft.

Microsoft's Minecraft: Education Edition is a step towards creativity, creation, and teamwork. It is a step forward to traditional classroom teaching/learning. A lot of research are being done by the R&D team of Minecraft to understand child's psychology and adding unique features as per those understanding.

The student community is already motivated by the launch of Minecraft. We will find out soon whether Microsoft's Minecraft is a hit or a miss.