I love that you can open up Minecraft Education Edition, ask yourself “What do I want to learn today?” and find something. This is just another way that the power of Minecraft and what’s been built to support Education Edition shines. When you take the best selling game ever, engage passionate people to create amazing content, and then put that content in the hands of students, you have  - in my opinion - the most powerful tool for teaching and learning that exists. I didn’t know what to expect when I spoke to Sarah Red-Laird from Bee Girl. The bee content in the game is great, but as you’ll hear, Bee Girl took it and turned it into something with meaningful learning experiences for every student.

Bee Girl Organization: https://www.beegirl.org/

• Sarah Red-Laird on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahBeeGirl

Join the Minecraft Education Challenge! This virtual build challenge invites students around the world to learn about issues related to sustainability and inclusion, then design solutions with Minecraft: Education Edition.

Create your own prompt that invites students to address a local issue impacting your school, community or region. This could be something like designing a more accessible version of your classroom in Minecraft. Think about people with different learning styles and disabilities, so the space is a safe and inspiring environment for everyone to be healthy. 

Or build a more sustainable version of your school in Minecraft. Consider a holistic definition of sustainability, which may involve rethinking energy systems, recycling, transportation, and how nature plays a role.

Share progress and stories of your Challenge experience via Twitter and Facebook, and tag us using our Twitter handle @PlayCraftLearn and the hashtag #MinecraftChallenge, and then post your results on the Minecraft Challenge Flipgrid page.

There is, within Minecraft, an incredible opportunity to build an immersive world and bring it to life with animals, plants and trees and even NPC’s with diologue. I would challenge every educator out there to think big. Imagine the worlds you would want to build for your students, and then go and do it. I have little doubt Minecraft will help your vision come alive.

On today’s show… Esports is exploding in popularity all over the world. We’re going to talk about how educators are using esports to engage students and how you can use Minecraft Education Edition to do that. Two groups playing a big part in how the future of academic esports unfolds are Liminal Esports, and Stephen Reid and Immersive Minds. I spoke to them both about their work in academic esports.

• Explore Esports with New Minecraft: Education Edition Lessons and Teaching Guide: https://education.minecraft.net/blog/explore-esports-with-new-minecraft-education-edition-lessons-and-teaching-guide
• Bring esports to your classroom with new Minecraft: Education Edition esports worlds, lesson plans and an educator framework created by Immersive Minds: https://education.minecraft.net/stem-esports-challenges
• With Minecraft: Education Edition, Microsoft Looks To Blend Esports And EDU: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2020/06/29/with-minecraft-education-edition-microsoft-looks-to-blend-esports-and-edu/?fbclid=IwAR0NIN4pIj448ak4mzMGVgs48ylNuvVuBSrNDiVYeHJVi5jqLBh4jB4u7DU#42394e1b5138

Join the Minecraft Education Challenge! This virtual build challenge invites students around the world to learn about issues related to sustainability and inclusion, then design solutions with Minecraft: Education Edition.

Create your own prompt that invites students to address a local issue impacting your school, community or region. This could be something like designing a more accessible version of your classroom in Minecraft. Think about people with different learning styles and disabilities, so the space is a safe and inspiring environment for everyone to be healthy. 

Or build a more sustainable version of your school in Minecraft. Consider a holistic definition of sustainability, which may involve rethinking energy systems, recycling, transportation, and how nature plays a role.

Share progress and stories of your Challenge experience via Twitter and Facebook, and tag us using our Twitter handle @PlayCraftLearn and the hashtag #MinecraftChallenge, and then post your results on the Minecraft Challenge Flipgrid page.

On today’s show… There is, within Minecraft, an incredible opportunity to build an immersive world and bring it to life with animals, plants and trees and even NPC’s with dialogue. I would challenge every educator out there to think big. Imagine the worlds you would want to build for your students, and then go and do it. I have little doubt Minecraft will help your vision come alive.

National Writing Project Website: https://www.nwp.org/

• Christina Cantrill on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Seecantrill
• Joe Dillon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/onewheeljoe

• Join the National Writing Project's Newsletter: https://nwp.us8.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=74fb19be0914ed81636ed0372&id=9f9bf35629
• NWP's Educator Innovator Initiative: https://educatorinnovator.org/
• NPC’s, Signs, Boards, Posters, the Book and Quill, and Camera - these are just some of the amazing tools built right into Minecraft. There are dozens of resources available on the Minecraft Education Edition website to help you get started telling amazing stories and building immersive worlds. Visit education.minecraft.net today to learn more.

Join the Minecraft Education Challenge! This virtual build challenge invites students around the world to learn about issues related to sustainability and inclusion, then design solutions with Minecraft: Education Edition.

Create your own prompt that invites students to address a local issue impacting your school, community or region. This could be something like designing a more accessible version of your classroom in Minecraft. Think about people with different learning styles and disabilities, so the space is a safe and inspiring environment for everyone to be healthy. 

Or build a more sustainable version of your school in Minecraft. Consider a holistic definition of sustainability, which may involve rethinking energy systems, recycling, transportation, and how nature plays a role.

Share progress and stories of your Challenge experience via Twitter and Facebook, and tag us using our Twitter handle @PlayCraftLearn and the hashtag #MinecraftChallenge, and then post your results on the Minecraft Challenge Flipgrid page.

There is, within Minecraft, an incredible opportunity to build an immersive world and bring it to life with animals, plants and trees and even NPC’s with diologue. I would challenge every educator out there to think big. Imagine the worlds you would want to build for your students, and then go and do it. I have little doubt Minecraft will help your vision come alive.