MinecraftEdu shared server project for teachers

The talented and beautiful @warrenbez has taken the initiative to a large server project for teachers, starting with MinecraftEdu.  I tell him:

I'm one of the SetupMinecraftEDU server that can be accessed by every teacher.The hope is to have collaborate with teachers and create a Minecraft unit, which then can be made available for download. I think that teachers, who work together on a particular unit produce a better product as a teacher tried this all on its own. So my first idea is the creation of a unit or lesson is based on the architecture and history of ancient Rome. The idea seemed after finding this map available to download. The card has several identifiable Roman structures, which could be used in a lesson of the Roman architecture. My hope is that teachers will jump in and begin assignments.

More information and instructions to the jump and get started here on Warren's blog.  Personally, I think that this is a fantastic idea.  I want something even to do for a while.  But Kudos to Warren for the ball rolling.

Hmm. Maybe I'll log in and build some columns...

Young people who play MinecraftEdu at the Brooklyn public...

Teenagers play Minecraft jam MinecraftEdu at the Brooklyn public library.

I took recently to a Minecraft-jam at the Brooklyn public library.  It was a great event and I be more information soon.  At the moment, there are some great pictures online of the all-day event.

Go check them out!

(Photo credit: Owen long)

MinecraftEdu 1.5.1 is now available!

After a long winter of troubleshooting we are polishing and cramming in new features, to announce that MinecraftEdu has been updated.  MinecraftEdu customers can always access the latest version on our Members page.

You see a detailed changelog on our wiki, but here are some of the biggest additions and improvements:

• On the basis of Minecraft 1.5.1 (we picked, woo!)
• Support for the most forged mods (this is a big deal!)
• Improved in-game world controls
• Improved teacher's 'give menu' items given are, can also check out mods
• Informative server shows
• Improved support for Mac
• Updated world features
• Ability to automatically update or downgrade (we changed also our version system of numbering to make it clearer)
• Many Polish including tool tips, new icons, and more!
• Support for online-world templates (still experimental)

We want to talk about that last item.  Worlds allow one of our dreams for MinecraftEdu has always been the seamless exchange of pedagogical Minecraft.  This dream is a step closer to reality with online world templates.

The idea is that anyone can make a world/lesson, add the content with custom MinecraftEdu features, and then share it with the teachers everywhere.  Teachers can browse what is available, download a world and one server with that to get the content in just a few clicks.  This basic functionality now works!

We have a long way to go, and we have made not much content available yet... but we wanted to keep this feature for us.  We think online world templates are an indispensable part of a MinecraftEdu and we can't wait to hear your feedback!

~ Joel