Minecraft in Schools: Can it work? Will it enable children to write more creatively?

With the announcement of Microsoft’s purchase of Minecraft EDU, we know that this addictive game is going to be around for much longer now we can access it in schools safely and easily. Many colleagues I’ve met have shunned the idea of using what is ultimately ‘a game’ in the classroom, but after watching how engaged the children who are playing it are, we’ve got to tap into that engagement; haven’t we? Of course we have.

I've being playing around with the idea of using MinecraftEDU in school for a while now and this term I'm finally going to start crafting in class. But how can it inspire my children to create, test, explain, solve problems and work collaboratively?

I'm lucky to have a 7-year-old son at home who has started this journey with me and together we've come up with some super ideas for how we could use Minecraft at school. I managed to survive my first night on Survival mode and I'm now the proud owner of several diamonds, crafted myself a diamond sword (my son was very jealous), but I did unfortunately die when lava fell on my head - don't mine vertically, lesson learned