The next step

  • 4 minutes

Now that you're familiar with placing blocks and are aware of the extensive resources available, it's time to embark on planning your first Minecraft Education lesson.

Here's how to get started:

  1. Preparation: First, ensure that Minecraft Education is installed on all student devices. To learn more about how to download or deploy the Minecraft Education app, visit the IT Admins page on our website.
  2. Introduction to Minecraft Education: Before diving into specific subject areas, it's always beneficial to conduct a preliminary session on Minecraft Education. We prepared a straightforward lesson plan for you to incorporate The Pixel Art Challenge for this using the Minecraft Education Lesson Planner. Choose your challenge topic and customize the lesson to suit your needs. This planner can also assist with future Minecraft lesson planning. Check out the lesson. This introductory lesson helps students familiarize themselves with the platform, allowing you to identify and address any potential hurdles, such as sign-on difficulties, classroom management issues during gameplay, or technical glitches. Reflect on how to navigate these challenges in future lessons. Remember, our support team is always ready to assist through the Community Support Page.
  3. Continue playing: If you or your students want to continue to hone your gameplay skills, there are a range of "How To Play" worlds ready and waiting in the in-game library with accompanying videos for each world!
  4. Embrace the learning journey: Expect challenges along the way but embrace them as part of the learning experience. Just as we encourage our students to learn from their mistakes and persevere, we must apply the same resilience. Using the insights gained from reviewing a lesson that aligns with your curriculum, leverage the available resources to conduct this lesson in your classroom.
  5. Community of support: There's a global community of Minecraft Education Ambassadors dedicated to using Minecraft as an educational tool. This network provides support and collaboration opportunities for you and educators worldwide Right now, you can join the Minecraft Teacher's Lounge and engage in discussions about best practices for using this learning tool.

Tip

World files in Minecraft Education are saved locally, not to the cloud. To ensure students' projects are preserved, save them manually. Always select Save and Exit, then export the world from My Worlds to a shared, accessible location. For a step-by-step on exporting and importing, check out this guide.