Interview with Joel Levin of MinecraftEdu

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing MinecraftEdu's Joel Levin - better known as MinecraftTeacher - who gives us an in-depth look into exactly what MinecraftEdu is, some of the challenges they face and more!

Joel went on to say that MinecraftEdu is geared towards teachers who want to use Minecraft as a teaching aid in the classroom, with design features meant to facilitate ease of use and accessibility for everyone, regardless of technical background. With user-friendly interfaces and clearly explained features, MinecraftEdu sets itself up to be usable by a teacher the minute they pick it up!

Joel would like to thank Mojang and his partners at MinecraftEdu for the opportunity to help him bring this project to life, so that everyone may enjoy its benefits.

We here at Minecraft Forum would like to thank Joel himself for his dedication, vision and the opportunity to share all of it with us. We look forward to seeing MinecraftEdu take learning to a new level in the future! Feel free to take a look at MinecraftTeacher's blog right here!

___________________________________

Special Note - today is ez's birthday! Happy birthday!

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xyrayne
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#56 xyrayne

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Posted Nov 9, 2011
What happens when a student griefs the world? That's what I would do...

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ArrogantLobster
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#57 ArrogantLobster

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Posted Nov 9, 2011
When I play Minecraft in school with my rare free time, other kids look at what im playing and think its some game called roblox???

Idiots right? xD

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RobloxSporeEpic
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#58 RobloxSporeEpic

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Posted Nov 9, 2011
I wish they could do this at my school
but i live in new zealand and my schhol is stupid they think video games are bad for u and they dont care about the kids who like that sort of thing

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aiyajacky
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#59 aiyajacky

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Posted Nov 9, 2011
YOU MY FRIEND IS THE GREATEST TEACHER OF ALL TIMES (referring to the teacher)
(ECHO........ ALL TIMES)

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Merlin2040
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#60 Merlin2040

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Posted Nov 9, 2011
Things like this are exactly why the U.S. is falling behind in education. Even after being asked, the teacher doesn't even try to explain what is actually educational about Minecraft for his students.. he just seems more interested in playing Minecraft while at work. Sounds fun, but fun isn't always educational.
Lazy teaching, lazy learning.

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Vist737
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Posted Nov 9, 2011
Nominate Joel to talk at TED's 2012 classroom seminar!!!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDJ0M1RoTkZUNTktdmQtMHdGZ1VTS2c6MQ

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MCFUser763162
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Posted Nov 9, 2011
Cant wait for it

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xKarbec
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#63 xKarbec

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Posted Nov 9, 2011
WHat!! so that means we r playing an edu game! FUUU <_<

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Tonyflow1
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Posted Nov 9, 2011
this is so awesome

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Detestable
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Posted Nov 9, 2011
I'll go ahead and say that I do not agree with this program. I doubt that will actually improve how a child learns and, in fact, if you focus on playing games (yes, games, not educational programs) especially in dark lights, nothing good will come out of this, except for ****-poor vision by the age of 10.

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dra6o0n
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#66 dra6o0n

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Posted Nov 9, 2011
The only effective lessons relative to teaching in minecraft, to a general public is mostly the redstone kinds...
Unless you mean primary lessons like the basis of analysis and calculations...

Because the only thing I find at my level and those of the average internet users, is more of the complex mechanics, like logic gates and switches, and essentially 'logic' programming.

But I guess you can incorporate puzzles and scenarios into the game to teach problem solving too so yeah it really depends on how you innovate on the technology.

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Reec3ty
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#68 Reec3ty

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Posted Nov 10, 2011
Just imagine, the kids in class would get detention or something for griefing...Hehe in-game detention

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rogonslav
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Posted Nov 10, 2011
happy birthday ez!!!!!

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DawnOfNights
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#71 DawnOfNights

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Posted Nov 10, 2011
lol...
mute students XD

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azzanine
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Posted Nov 10, 2011
Ill say it once ill say it twice. Games do not teach you anything, games however are a good pass time where you can apply logistic thinking.
Then again this program is for 2nd graders and I take it the teacher hasn't based the WHOLE of his curriculum on Minecraft. Actually it could be a great rewarding activity that a teacher could use for an occasional treat.
But that's all really if I was a parent and I found out the teacher was just playing computer games wit my kids them I'd be pretty pissed.Also I wasn't aware you could make such UI's for multiplayer...

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hat_sg
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Posted Nov 10, 2011
why didnt you do your homework? it got griefed. new excuse!

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Bluppy
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#74 Bluppy

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Posted Nov 10, 2011
Wait, you weren't meant to play minecraft in class?

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hittingal
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Posted Nov 10, 2011
My school IT teacher has been conidering using Minecraft as a way to learn, this is the best site I've found so far.

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pengu213456
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Posted Nov 10, 2011
it would be such a good griefer interface on smp
lol jks

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treegis
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#78 treegis

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Posted Nov 10, 2011
Frankly this is ridiculous. Especially when they have cut art and music programs so much, in so many places. Put the damn money back into those things instead of wasting it on playing a game and calling it education.
No one is going to get their MC work in the Louvre, Seriously.

Last edited by treegis: Nov 10, 2011

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