This is the third post in a series of posts about using Minecraft: Education Edition in your classroom. (The series of posts can be accessed at: ). In this post we explain why Microsoft is excited to announce the availability of Minecraft: Education Edition in South Africa! We give details of why you should think about using Minecraft: Education Edition at your school, and how to go about purchasing it.

Minecraft: Education Edition is a version of the popular open world game, Minecraft, specifically designed for education. It contains features that make Minecraft more accessible and effective in a classroom setting including:

• Easy Classroom Collaboration: Educators have told us that one of the greatest benefits of Minecraft: Education Edition is the ability for students to collaborate together to build projects and solve problems. 
• Non-Player Characters: An educator may create an NPC (Non-Player Character) to act as a guide for students in the game, giving instruction, providing more information, and also allowing educators to insert an active web link to additional references.
• Camera + Portfolio: An important aspect of teaching with Minecraft is being able to collect evidence of learning in the game, and being able to track student progression. The camera and portfolio features allows students to take screenshots of their work and document the development of their projects.
• Chalkboards: Creators can use chalkboards to communicate learning goals, provide additional information and give explicit instructions within the game. 
• Simple, Secure sign-in: Individual student and teacher logins with Office 365 Education accounts ensure data privacy & security while playing Minecraft: Education Edition.
• Tutorial World: For educators or students new to Minecraft, a tutorial world is available that will guide players on in-game navigation, crafting, and placing or breaking blocks.

Minecraft: Education Edition immerses students in a virtual landscape that fosters collaboration, stimulates problem solving, and inspires creativity while exploring subjects from art to math, history to science.

What educators are saying about Minecraft Education Edition:

Minecraft is already transforming classroom learning!  Hear what educators are saying about using Minecraft to transform classroom learning in the video below..

Next Steps

• Please view the attached flyer for more information.
• To purchase please visit http://education.minecraft.net, or contact an Authorised Education Reseller who is able to assist with Minecraft licencing. Current partners are as follows:

Partner Name	Contact Person	Email
Computers 4 Kids	Russell Pengelly	PlayMinecraftEdu@computers4kids.co.za
Scadco	Mitchell Struwig	info@scadco.co.za
ITech Solutions	Daryl Duncan	info@itechsolutions.co.za
Onsite IT	Clayton Campbell	sales@onsitegroup.biz
Masterskill	Roelof de Bruyn	info@masterskill.co.za
GACS	Brian Carl Brown	support@gacs.co.za
Dial a Nerd	Warren Morton	warrenm@dialanerd.co.za