The government instructed lockdowns worldwide have affected people and families everywhere.
Gaming has become a popular lockdown activity for many as it provides an escape and the opportunity to socialize and interact with others in a fun way online while being confined in their homes.
The hugely popular online game Minecraft, that has amassed 126 million active players worldwide since its launch in 2011, has helped many children, gamers and families during the mentally challenging lockdown periods by offering a positive escapism and a platform to engage in purposeful and fun activities with other players.
For younger players, Minecraft teaches teamwork and the motivation to improve reading and math skills on top of creativity and self-direction. There are also similar games you can find in technovanguard.com
How does Minecraft Education & Multiplayer work?
When purchasing Minecraft, players can build, imagine, and create worlds in a three-dimensional environment, which can be hosted on a secure Minecraft game server for the most individual experience.
The beauty of Minecraft multiplayer servers is that players can develop their own rules and customs, guided by their game moderators or hosts. Through plugin-based replacement servers such as Bukkit, modifications and new user-created features have shown up in Minecraft, including features like money, vehicles, and more, making the game much more versatile and creative.
Another plus is that Minecraft supports kids developing various skills, and while schools are closed it can contribute to children’s learning at home by using the Minecraft Education Edition. See in the video how teachers and educators use it.
Since its release in 2016, Minecraft Education Edition has revolutionized how kids and grownups engage with the game. About 98% of educators who have used Minecraft Education Edition say that the game helps develop the students’ problem-solving skills and more. It is specially designed for a traditional classroom setting as the game seamlessly channels the ideas of “using games for learning” and “remote learning” for KS2 and higher education.
What are the Benefits of Multiplayer Minecraft Education Edition Games?
Minecraft has extended free resources to assist educators, students, and their families to explore immersive virtual worlds, participate in fun challenges and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning.
You can download Minecraft Education Edition on Mac, iPad, Windows, Chromebook, and Android devices, and access a wide array of educational content. Note: The full game costs $5 per user per year to use for schools. Schools and districts that already have MinecraftEdu can get the Education Edition for free so speak to your child’s school about the free home access and use.
The Minecraft Education Edition is based on the Bedrock Edition and contains specific features that make Minecraft more accessible and effective for teaching and learning in a group, such as:
- Easy collaboration: Students can collaborate to build worlds and projects and solve problems. Entire classrooms can play in a world together with no separate server setup required. However, if students want to work together in pairs or groups separately, they can either join their classmates’ worlds or host their own game on a separate game server.
- Student Guidance: So-called NPCs or Non-player characters may act as a guide for game players, giving instruction, providing more information or challenges etc. Educators or instructors can also insert an active web link to additional references or resources.
- Progress Tracking: Educators can collect evidence of learning in the game through tracking student progression. The camera and portfolio features allow students to take screenshots of their work and document the development of their projects as individuals and groups.
- Share Learning Goals: Creators or instructors can use chalkboards to communicate learning goals, provide additional information and give explicit instructions within the game. The group can also use chalkboards to communicate with each other.
- Effective Interaction: The classroom mode allows educators a master view of the map with the locations of all players. Players and instructors can communicate via live chat and turn off/on some world settings to enhance the experience and adjust the difficulty levels.
- Coding Element: The Agent allows students to write code in a code editor which is then executed in the program.
How to play Minecraft Education Edition at Home with multiple Players?
You require a Microsoft Office 365 Education account for logging into Minecraft Education Edition. The game has free trial versions for popular devices such as iPad, Mac, and Chromebook. These trial versions offer a limited number of logins. You can buy a Minecraft Education Edition subscription by visiting Microsoft Store for Education or ask your child’s school for free access if they have a subscription.
Players can start playing together by creating a Minecraft world on a Minecraft game server. This is especially beneficial if it is a bigger group of players as SeekaHost Minecraft game servers offer up to 76 player slots per server. Many factors come into play for running a server such as 24/7 uptime, DDoS protection, technical support, hence why running a server on a home computer can be challenging especially for beginners. And where children are involved, safety should always come first.
Minecraft Gaming & Educational Ideas for the best Experience at Home
Here are just a few game ideas players can explore using Minecraft’s virtual world-building platform while playing together in a group:
Communicate & Interact through Creative Ideas and Instructions
Players can create interactive environments and give and follow simple instructions as they explore the environment. Players can improve their attention, listening and communication skills by exchanging ideas and instructions to improve their game or add cool and fun features.
Visualize & Build New Brave Worlds Cooperatively
Players can channel their creativity, cooperate and build their own unique worlds by visualising them through art or designs they create.
Recreate Worlds & Exchange Knowledge
Players can build geometrical and mechanical structures and include animal cells for example. The players can educate each other about different animal species, different architectural structures, historic facts etc. and incorporate their knowledge into their worlds. They can also research new facts about animals or the natural world, which they can incorporate in their worlds.
How to be Safe when playing Minecraft with multiple Players at Home?
The Minecraft game has efficient safety features in place to ensure children’s security while they play and learn online from home:
Parental Control Settings
Parents and educators can control everything from how long players play Minecraft to the kind of content they can access or share. In addition, they can also control whether players can view other users’ profiles, add friends, and how they receive invites.
AI Chat Filters to Monitor the Language
Minecraft Education Edition employs dedicated AI to monitor the language being used by players in their chats. The chat filter automatically removes profane or otherwise inappropriate language from chats. Minecraft also has a team of moderators working round the clock to ensure the chat filters are running smoothly and no misconduct can slip through the cracks.
Private Messaging can be disabled
Minecraft Education Edition doesn’t allow private messaging during online play. In addition, players cannot share contact details in chats to avoid players getting contacted by unknown or dangerous people.
Reporting/Blocking Players
Minecraft Education Edition has adequate measures in place to prevent bullying and unwanted behaviour. Players can mute and block a player that is behaving inappropriately and report them through the game’s Pause menu.
Minecraft is the perfect Game for Learning online from Home
Minecraft Education Edition has proven itself to be an excellent learning tool for children of all ages and interests, bringing people together. With its outstanding safety features and certified learning features, there’s no reason families shouldn’t try it out right away for home learning and a fun experience together. They can even invite relatives and friends and have a great time at least in the virtual world of Minecraft while they cannot see each other.
Many popular multiplayer servers contain custom minigames or large survival or creative worlds that help any beginner get started. Build your own happy place while you’re locked in.
