Namya Joshi, a 13-year-old, loves training teachers.
The seventh grade student has been helping teachers of her school convert their class lessons into interactive Minecraft sessions.
“Minecraft is a great platform. If a child does not like reading books, for example, you can make them in Minecraft and get the child interested,” the student from Sat Paul Mittal School in Ludhiana, says very matter-of-factly.
It all started two years ago when her mother, who is the IT Head at the school, signed up to become a global Minecraft mentor, as a part of Microsoft Innovative Educator program.
“I didn’t know much about Minecraft when I signed up. I had some exposure in our school during Microsoft’s Hour of Code but that was all I knew about it. I started researching about it and was initially shocked to see how a game could be integrated into the school’s curriculum. I wasn’t convinced,” says Monica Joshi, Namya’s mother.
A Microsoft Expert Educator herself, Joshi thought she’d learn how to use Minecraft on her own gradually, but all that changed when one day she found Namya playing with Minecraft: Education Edition, a special edition of the game customized for the classroom environment, on her laptop.
“I’d seen Minecraft installed on my mother’s Windows 10 laptop and started trying it on my own. After understanding the basics, I watched some tutorials and got myself familiar with it,” Namya says with pride.
Recovering from the initial shock, Joshi asked her daughter to create her upcoming lesson in the Minecraft world. It was a creative writing lesson and Namya had to write about her recent trip to the hills. The result convinced Joshi about using Minecraft in her school.
Whetu Paitai’s always been good at building.In fact, he might still be a builder in Australia if it weren’t for two things: a broken leg and a promise kept. Thanks to life’s strange twists he’s back home in the Coromandel, but instead of putting up houses, he’s reconstructing the world of his Tīpuna (ancestors).
The path was laid almost a decade ago, when Whetu was in hospital with a broken leg. A university lecturer in the same ward raved to him about Minecraft. When Whetu suggested his daughter try the game she was instantly hooked – and so was he. The pair bonded over their shared passion for creating digital worlds.
Fast forward a few years, and Whetu,now a father of four, often wished his tamariki (children) could connect with their culture by learning to speak tereo Māori, something he’d never learned to do. A promise to his wife saw them return to New Zealand and he’s never looked back since.
Now Whetu has not only reconnected with his culture and heritage, immersing his children in teao Māori (the Māori world), he’s found a new calling: designing games that introduce his culture to countless other children. His latest is a brand-new world built for Minecraft: Education Edition, Ngā Motu (The Islands), giving students a taste of what life was like in a traditional Māori pā (fortified village).
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There’s great value in little things
Whetu is the founder of Piki Studios, a game design company he runs while home-schooling his children on the remote Coromandel Peninsula.The leap from builder to educational games developer may seem like a big one, but Whetu remembers being drawn to technology from an early age.
“When I was a kid I enjoyed computers, but the geeky stereotype didn’t fit with the Kiwi view of being a boy. I grew up in Harataunga (Kennedy Bay), surrounded by bush.Computers went on the back-burner.”
When he returned to New Zealand, and still a massive Minecraft fan, Whetu was seduced afresh by digital technology, so he retrained. Armed with new digital skills, he found himselfhelping out with the adminat his children’s kohangareo (Māori-language preschool), and a lightbulb went on: “If I could be involved that much in my kids’ education, how much more involved could I be?”
Whetu realised that by marrying his passion for IT with education, he could help other children learn the language and culture too by creating fun new resources.
And so his game building began. He started by creating an online game, Mahimaina (Minecraft in tereo Māori), to help children learn the language, joined by around 100 students. More games are set to follow, both online and traditional board games, which Whetu hopes will be used by schools and whānau (families) around the country.
“There’s great value in little things,” he says.“For a child,seeing their culture represented on major global platforms is incredibly empowering.”
It was exactly what one of the world’s largest tech companies was looking for.
Last year, Microsoft came knocking. Would Whetu like to create a uniquely Aotearoa (New Zealand) resource for Minecraft: Education Edition?
A voyage through Aotearoa
“It blew our minds,” says Whetu. “I knew Minecraft, but it wasn’t till we explored Minecraft: Education Edition, tweaked it, played with it and saw all the additionalthings it could do that we realised all the potential. This will open up so much more space for Māori and all Kiwis to learn and play in the Māori world.”
Minecraft: Education Edition brings the world of Minecraft to classrooms around the world, offering hundreds of free lessons as well as a global educator community. Immersive game-based learning helps students build key 21st century skills including creativity, collaboration and STEM. Educators across New Zealand are already using Minecraft to transform learning, from learning programming with Hour of Code to designing sustainable villages and even reconstructing Gallipoli in-game.
Whetu is the first to create a brand-new world immersed in teao Māori.Characters based on his children and their friends guide young players as they walk through Ngā Motu, from the impressive waka hourua (sea-going canoe) at the beach to the pā with its wharenui (large meeting house) decorated with kōwhaiwhai(painted panels) and tukutuku (woven lattice).Pātaka,rua (food storage areas) and a hāngī pit for cooking can also be found in the pā.
Whetu has gone into painstaking detail to make sure everything has a uniquely Aotearoa flavour, right down to the kumara (sweet potato) gardens where children can create new buildings.The resource packs swap typical swords for more appropriate patu (clubs) and even the mobswill have Kiwi kids feeling right at home.
Whetu’s younger daughter requested her favourite bird, a pīwaiwaka (fantail), you can interact with a native kunekune pig and even an extinct moa, New Zealand’s famous giant bird, complete with sound recreated by the experts at national museum Te Papa. Children can learn words in tereo Māori from the guides, or via in-game exercises.
In future iterations, intrepid voyagers will be able to visit the taniwha (guardian) in the harbour and collect kaimoana (seafood) near some pink terraces that may remind New Zealanders of the long-lost Pink Terraces, destroyed by a volcanic eruption more than 100 years ago. All of these will add to children’s glossary of Māori words and understanding of Māori history and narratives.
“I would love the kura (schools) to build their own pā or wharenui, explore the world on their own and learn how to care for the moa,” Whetu says.
“We’re believers in learning being organic, being able to explore all the elements, because nothing in our lives exists in isolation. Our mission is for everyone to be able to play these games and see more than just what a waka is – they’ll be able to see how it fits into that whole world,” Whetu explains.
A “serendipitous” opportunity
This philosophy is exactly why Microsoft New Zealand’s Sam McNeill and Anne Taylor came to Piki Studios.
“Whetu’s so passionate about education and helping all kids, not just his own, understand our indigenous culture and that really shines through when you speak to him. He’s a natural teacher,” says Anne, Education Lead for Microsoft New Zealand.
“The creativity and attention to detail with which Whetu has approached this project just blew us away. What he’s created goes way beyond what we could ever have expected.”
Whetu acknowledges getting the call from Microsoft was daunting, being a small family business dealing with a large multinational corporation. It was a relief to find he was working with people who shared the same values and goals.
“A better opportunity couldn’t have presented itself. Straight off the bat, Sam and Anne knew teao Māori, believing in dealing honestly and genuinely with indigenous people, and we never lost any of that closeness that is so important. It was truly serendipitous.”
The group were determined to ensure all the translations were accurate. Two professional translators, Hemi Kelly and Piripi Walker, worked with Whetu and the team to translate the language pack for the game, including the instructions. There were even some new words for some of the more in-game Minecraft items.
“It was important to make sure teao Māori was respected as its own being, the mana (status) and cultural IP of each artefact upheld and maintained throughout the process,” Whetu says.
The most difficult part was the timeframe, just five short weeks. Luckily Whetu was supported by other Māori working in the tech space, making it a truly collaborative process. And of courseWhetu’s children acted as in-house quality assurance – keeping Dad on top of his game.
First Harataunga, then the world?
Soon Ngā Motu will reach an audience beyond New Zealand, as Piki Studios is now an official member of the Minecraft Partner Program, enabling it to add to the resources available in the global Minecraft Marketplace. For now, the game will be available to classrooms in New Zealand, as part of Microsoft’s Schools Agreement that provides resources such as Minecraft: Education Edition to every State and State-Integrated school.
“Ngā Motu is a truly amazing resource for Kiwi students and teachers and we know they’re going to absolutely love exploring and building on this world,” says Anne.
“It’s not just Whetu’s children. We showed it to some of our global colleagues and the excitement in the room was just palpable.”
Te waihanga anō i ngā ao tuku iho mā ngā poraka mariko
Mai anō e taunga ana a Whetu Paitai ki ngā mahi waihanga. Ina, tērā pea e mahi waihanga tonu ana ia i Ahitereiria engari nā ēneimea e rua: i whati te waewae me te ū ki te kupu oati. Nā ngā āhuatanga o te ao kua tau atu ki te wā kāinga i Hauraki, engari kāore ia i whakatū whare, kei te whakatūtū kē anō ia i te ao o ōna tīpuna.
He mea whakatakoto tēnei ara i tōna tekau tau ki mua, i te wā i rō hōhipera a Whetu nā te whatinga o tōna waewae. I te waha pakaru haere tētahi kaiako whare wānanga ki a ia mō Minecraft. I te meatanga a Whetu ki tana tamāhine kia whakamātauria e ia te kēmu i tino rawe rawa atu ki tana tamahine – me iaanō. Ka hono tahi rāua i runga i tō rāua kaingākau ki te waihanga ao matihiko.
Ka huri ngā tau, kua whā ngā tamariki ināianei a Whetu, me tana manako kia hono ana tamariki ki tō rātau ao Māori mā te ako ki te kōrero i te reo Māori, kāore hoki a Whetu i mōhio ki tōna reo. Nā tana kupu oati ki tana hoa wahine ka hoki mai rātau ki Aotearoa, kāore mo te hoki whakamuri.
Nā, kua hono atu a Whetu ki tōna ao Māori, koinei hoki te ao o ana tamariki, kua whai ia te tino oranga mōna: te waihanga kēmu me te tūhono atu i tōna ahurea ki ngā tamariki huhua. Ko tāna mea hou rawa ko tētahi ao tino hou mō Minecraft: Te Putanga Mātauranga, Ngā Motu, e pā atu ai ngā ākonga ki te āhua o te ao i roto i tētahi pā Māori.
He mea nui kei roto i ngā mea iti
Nā Whetu i whakaara ake a Piki Studios, he kamupene waihanga kēmu e whakahaerehia ana e ia i a ia e kura ana i ana tamariki i te kāinga i te takiwā mamao o Hauraki. Ko te whakaaro pea he tino nui te neke mai i te mahi waihanga ki te waihanga kēmu mātauranga, engari i maumahara a Whetu ki tana kaingākau ki te hangarau i a ia e paku ana.
“I ahau e tamariki ana he rawe ki ahau te raweke rorohiko, engari kāore i ū te āhua o te ihu rorohiko ki te whakaaro o te iwi o Aotearoa mō te āhua o te tama. I pakeke mai ahau i Harataunga, i waenganui o te ngahere. Ka whakarerea ngā rorohiko.”
I tana hokinga mai ki Aotearoa, ā, ka mutu e kaingākau tonu ana ki a Minecraft, i riro te wairua o Whetu ki ngā hangarau matihiko, nā ka hoki ia ki te ako. Ka riro mai i a ia ōna pūkenga matihiko hou, ka huri ia ki te āwhina i te kōhanga reo o ana tamariki me ngā mahi tari, ā, i reira ka taka mai he whakaaro ki a ia. “Mēnā e pēnei rawa te nui o taku uru ki te mātauranga o aku tamariki, kia pēhea te whakawhānui kē atu i tōku uru atu?
I kite a Whetu mā te hono i tōna kaingākau mō te ao rorohiko ki te mātauranga, ka taea e ia te āwhina i ētahi atu tamariki ki te ako i te reo me ngā tikanga mā te waihanga i ngā rauemi pārekareka hou.
Nā, ka tīmata tana mahi waihanga kēmu. I tīmata ia mā te waihanga i tētahi kēmu tuihono, Mahimaina (ko Maincraft i roto i te reo Māori), hei āwhina i ana tamariki ki te ako i te reo, me ngā ākonga tata ki te 100. He nui atu anō ngā kēmu kei te whai mai, ngā kēmu tuihono me aua kēmu papa anō, ā, ko te tūmanako o Whetu ka whakamahia e ngā kura me ngā whānau puta noa i te motu.
Hei tāna, “He mea nui kei roto i ngā mea iti.” “Mō tētahi tamaiti, ka nui te whakamana i te kite i tō rātau ao e whakaaturia ana ki ngā pūhara ā-ao nui.”
Koinei tonu te mea e kimihia ana e tētahi o ngā kamupene hangarau nui rawa o te ao.
I tērā tau i whakapā mai a Microsoft. Kei te hiahia a Whetu ki te waihanga i tētahi rauemi ahurei ki Aotearoa mā Minecraft: Education Edition?
Te hīkoi i Aotearoa
“I tino mīharo mātau,” te kī a Whetu. “I te mōhio ahau mō Minecraft, engari nō te hōpara haere i a Minecraft: Education Edition, i rāwekewekehia, i pureihia e mātau, ā, ka kite i ngā mea tāpiri ka taea kātahi ka mārama ki tōna kaha ka taea. He nui ake te wāhanga ka tuwhera mai i tēnei mō te Māori me ngā tāngata katoa o Aotearoa ki te ako me te purei i roto i te ao Māori.”
Ka heria mai e Minecraft: Education Edition te ao o Minecraft ki ngā akomanga puta noa i te ao, e tuku ana i ngā akoranga koreutu maha rawa me tētahi hapori whakaako ā-ao. Ka āwhina ngā akoranga ā-kēmu rumaki i ngā ākonga ki te whakapakari i ngā pūkenga rau tau 21, tae atu ki te auahatanga, mahi tahi me te STEM. Kei tewhakamahia kētia e ngā kaiwhakaako hei takahuri i ngā akoranga, mai i te ako i te papatono mā te Hour of Code mai i te waihanga i ngā pā toitū, me te aha me te waihanga anō i a Karipori i rō kēmu.
Ko Whetu te mea tuatahi ki te waihanga i tētahi ao hou rawa i roto katoa i te ao Māori. Ka ārahina ngā kaitākaro tamariki e ngā kiripuaki, i takea mai ēnei i ana tamariki me ō rātau hoa, i a rātau e hīkoi haere ana i Ngā Motu, mai i te waka hourua ātaahua i tātahi ki te pā me te wharenui me ōna kōwhaiwhai, tukutuku hoki. Ka kitea anō i roto i te pā ko ngā pātaka, rua me rua hāngī mō te tunu kai.
He tino hōhonu rawa te āhua o ngā iroirotanga i oti i a Whetu kia mau ai te āhuatanga ake o Aotearoa, tae atu ki ngā māra kūmara e taea ai e ngā tamariki te waihanga whare hou. Kua whakakapia i roto i ngā kete rauemi ngā hoari mō ngā patu, ka mutu ka tino taunga ngā tamariki o Aotearoa ki ngā māpu.
I tono a te pekepoho kōtiro a Whetu i tana tino manu te pīwaiwaka, ka taea e koe te pāhekoheko me tētahi poaka kunekune me tētahi moa kua korehāhā me ngā tangi i hangaia anō e ngā mātanga o Te Papa. Ka taea e ngā tamariki te ako i te reo Māori mai i ngā kaiārahi, mā ngā tūmahi i rō kēmu rānei.
I roto i ngā auau o muri mai ka taea e ngā kaumoana te toro ki ngā taniwha i roto i te whanga me te kohikohi kaimoana e tūtata ana ki ngā parehua, ā, ka hoki pea ngā whakaaro o ngā tāngata ki Ōtūkapuārangi kua ngaro noa atu, i riro atu i roto i tō pahūtanga puia neke atu i te 100 tau ki mua. Ka tāpiri ēnei mea katoa ki te kete kupu a ngā tamariki me te whakawhānui i tō rātau mōhio ki te hītori me ngā kōrero a te Māori.
“Ka nui taku hiahia kia hangaia e ngā kura ā rātau ake pā, wharenui rānei, te hōpara i te ao me te ako me pēhea te tiaki i te moa,” te kī a Whetu.
“E whakapono ana mātau ka pā noa mai ngā akoranga, mā te āhei ki te hōpara i ngā āhuatanga katoa, i te mea e kore e noho wehe motuhake tētahi mea i roto i ō tātau ao. Ko tā mātau whāinga kia taea e ngā tāngata katoa ēnei kēmu, ā, ka whānui ake tā rātau kite i tētahi waka – ka kite kē rātau i te urunga atu ki roto i te ao whānui,” te whakamārama a Whetu.
He whai wāhitanga i “tūpono noa atu
Koinei tonu te tikanga whakaaro i haere atu a Sam McNeill rāua ko Anne Taylor o Microsoft New Zealand ki a Piki Studios.
“He tino ngākaunui a Whetu ki te mātauranga me te āwhina i ngā tamariki, kaua ko āna anake, kia mārama ki tō tātau ahurea taketake, ā, ka kitea puta tēnei i ā koe e kōrero ana ki a ia. He tino kaiako ia,” te kī a Anne, Kaiārahi Mātauranga mō Microsoft New Zealand.
“I tino mīharo rawa atu mātau ki te auaha me ngā iroirotanga katoa i roto i ngā mahi a Whetu mō tēnei kaupapa. Kua eke kē atu ia ki āna mahi ki te taumata i manakohia e mātau.”
I kī ia i āhua wehi ia i te waeatanga mai a Microsoft, ina he pakihi whānau iti mātau e whakariterite ana me tētahi kāporeihana nui nō te ao whānui. I tau ia i tana kite i te mahi tahi ia me ngā tāngata he ōrite ngā uara me ngā whāinga.
“Kāore i tua atu i tēnei whai wāhitanga. Mai i te tīmatanga, i mōhio a Sam rāua ko Anne ki te ao Māori, e whakapono ana me pono me tika te mahi me te iwi taketake, ā, he mea nui kāore i ngaro taua āhuatanga piri tata. He āhuatanga tino tūpono noa.”
I tino nganga te rōpū ki te whakarite kia tika ngā whakamāoritanga. E rua ngā kaiwhakamāori ngaio, ko Hemi Kelly rāua ko Piripi Walker i te taha o Whetu me te rōpū ki te whakamāori i te kete reo mō te kēmu, tae noa atu ki ngā tohutohu. I puta hoki ētahi kupu hou mō ētahi tuemi a MineCraft ake.
“He mea kia manaakitia te ao Māori, te pupuri i te mana me ngā rawa hinengaro ahurea o ia taonga puta noa i te tukanga,” te kī a Whetu.
Ko te mea uaua rawa ko te wā, e rima noa iho ngā wiki. I waimarie a Whetu i tautokona ia e ētahi atu Māori e mahi ana i roto i ngā mahi hangarau, ā, he tukanga tino mahi tēnei. Me te aha, nā ngā tamariki a Whetu i whakaū i te kounga – kia eke aia Whetu ki runga rawa atu.
Ko Heretaunga i te tuatahi, ā, ko te ao ā muri ake?
Kāore e roa ka tae a Ngā Motu ki ngā minenga o te ao i tua o Aotearoa, ina kua uru a Piki Studios hei mema whaimana nō te Kaupapa Pātui a Minecraft, e taea e ia ngā rauemi te tāpiri tuihono i roto i te Wāhi Tauhokohoko o Minecraft i te ao whānui. I tēnei wā, ka wātea mātau ki ngā akomanga puta noa i Aotearoa, he wāhanga tēnei nō te Whakaaetanga Kura a Microsoft e tuku ana i ngā rauemi pērā i a Minecraft: Education Edition ki ia kura Kāwanatanga, Kura Tāuke hoki.
“He rauemi tino whakamīharo a Ngā Motu mā ngā ākonga o Aotearoa me ngā kaiako me tō mātau mōhio anō ka tino rawe rawa atu ki a rātau te te hōpara me te waihanga i roto i tēnei ao,” te kī a Anne.
“Ehara ko ngā tamariki anake a Whetu. I whakaaturia e mātau ki ētahi o ō mātau hoa o te ao, ā, i pupū mai te whakaongaonga i a rātau.”
We’ve spent our summer building innovative tools to help students of all ages and levels get the most out of learning, the minute they walk back into your classroom. In this latest edition of What’s New in EDU, we’re excited to share a new batch of features and enhancements to help you encourage independent learning and engage your students – and we’re kicking it off with the expansion of Minecraft: Education Edition.
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Transform your classroom with Minecraft: Education Edition for iPad
Today, we are excited to announce we’re bringing the magic of Minecraft: Education Edition to iPad. Now, students can tap into the power of iPad to build historic monuments, swim through coral reefs with the Update Aquatic, bring creative stories to life, experiment with chemistry, and document their learning with the camera and portfolio features.
Educators trying Minecraft: Education Edition for the first time can get started with a beginner’s tutorial world and access a number of free class resources on education.minecraft.net. A global community of Minecraft Mentors offers year-round onboarding and classroom support, right alongside the growing Minecraft: Education Edition community – now with 35 million licensed teachers and students in 115 countries.
“Minecraft: Education Edition on iPad unlocks new and intuitive ways of collaborating and sharing and has revolutionized the way our students and teachers explore curriculum and projects,” says Kyriakos Koursaris, Head of Education Technology for PaRK International School. “The features allow for deep and meaningful learning, and the values it promotes, from inclusivity to 21 century skills, empower everyone to use technology with extraordinary results,” said Koursaris.
Here’s how to get Minecraft: Education Edition on your school’s iPads next month:
If your school district is already licensed through Microsoft:
If your school is licensed through Microsoft 365 for Education (A3 or A5), you already have access to Minecraft: Education Edition. You will be able to download the app onto iPads in September. To learn more, visit this webpage. What’s more, we’ve updated Intune for Education so it’s easier than ever for IT administrators to manage student devices from one unified, streamlined console.
If you’re interested in trying Minecraft: Education Edition on iPad in your school but have not purchased a license in the past:
Minecraft: Education Edition is licensed via yearly subscriptions that are purchased through the Microsoft Store for Education, via volume licensing agreements and through partner resellers. To learn more, visit our webpage on how to license Minecraft: Education Edition.
Minecraft: Education Edition is licensed via yearly subscriptions, purchased through Authorized Education Partners, or directly from the Microsoft Store for Education. To learn more, visit our webpage on how to license Minecraft: Education Edition.
And for Minecraft players and families who play outside of school:
We’re excited to share that players of the Windows 10 PC and Xbox console version of Minecraft can now use the Chemistry Resource Pack, released originally for Minecraft: Education Edition.
The Chemistry Resource Pack introduces lab tables, element blocks and items that are craftable only using the new chemistry features. With this added feature, players can create elements and combine them into compounds, build a periodic table and combine materials using chemistry to create new items like helium balloons, sparklers, latex, and underwater torches. Learn and experiment with the building blocks of chemistry in the world of Minecraft!
To get the Chemistry Resource Pack, go to the ‘Create New World’ option in the game and, under the ‘Cheats’ menu, toggle the ‘Education’ option.
What else is new in Microsoft Education this month?
Office 365 Education:
Microsoft OneNote helps teachers organize class content, create and deliver interactive lessons, provide feedback, and collaborate. Graphing in Math Assistant is now available in OneNote Online – this tool helps students visualize math problems and equations as they learn the steps to solving a problem.
OneNote is also making improvements to help you save valuable teaching time. Roaming Ink enables Pens and Ink preferences that follow you from device to device. You and your students can easily reuse the custom pens and ink you love, even when you switch devices. Learn more about using OneNote in your classroom.
Open Up resources:
We’re extremely excited to partner with Open Up Resources to offer high quality, free curriculum materials through Microsoft OneNote and Forms. Since the partnership announcement, we’ve been working to incorporate Open Up curriculum seamlessly into OneNote and Forms.
Using OneNote Class Notebook to access the Open Up curriculum, teachers can distribute course materials on any device. Students can write, draw, collaborate, and save their work automatically in their personal digital notebooks. Open Up content in OneNote integrates seamlessly with common LMS and SIS platforms. Using Open Up in Forms, teachers can access one-click assignment and efficient scoring. Get started using Open Up curriculum now.
Technology can be a wonderful tool to help personalize learning for every student in your class. To help students customize reading even more, we’ve added additional colors for page themes in Office Lens. Choose from the expanded selection with the latest update of Office Lens (version 2.15) for iPhone or iPad. Read more details here.
Closed captioning in Stream is also now available so you can make a lesson more accessible by recording it and adding captions.
Microsoft Teams:
Microsoft Teams is the digital hub that brings conversations, content, assignments, and apps together in one place. Educators can create collaborative classrooms, connect in professional learning communities, and communicate with school staff – all from a single experience in Office 365 Education. Check out all the new updates in the Teams back-to-school blog post.
Rubric Grading now available. Built directly into Teams, rubric grading helps increase assignment transparency for students and allows teachers to give more meaningful feedback. Customize your grading criteria with your own rubric to enable skills-based grading of your assignments.
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Updates to the assignments experience on mobile: With new updates to iOS and Android apps, you can now access all of your assignments directly when you launch the Teams app and see a simplified list of upcoming tasks, across all of your classes. Students can work on their assignments directly on their phones and turn in.
Archiving teams: Instead of deleting older teams, you can now archive the team, placing it in a read-only state. This way you can go back and reference what you covered last year, any time you want.
Reusing assignments: Reuse assignments from current or archived class teams, bringing over instructions, attachments, and customizations from previous assignments to your new assignment.
New Class Notebook and Staff Notebook tab app: Teachers can enjoy the new and improved Class Notebook and Staff Notebook settings directly inside of Teams. Just select “Manage.”
Skype in the Classroom:
Skype in the Classroom (SITC) is an online community that enables thousands of teachers to inspire the next generation of global citizens through transformative learning over Skype.
New Activity Plans for your favorite Skype in the Classroom activities. Whether you are going back to school or in the middle of the academic year, make learning relevant and fun for your students by participating in one of the Skype in the Classroom LIVE learning experiences. Use the new Activity plans, written by teachers, to enrich your students’ learning experiences with activities and assessments aligned to ISTE standards. They can be followed step by step, or you can adjust them based on your classroom’s needs. Explore all activity plans here.
Microsoft Photos App:
The Microsoft Photos App makes it easy to tell stories with photos and videos. There is a built-in video editor, making it easy for you and your students to create movies using photos, video clips, music, 3D models, and Hollywood-style special effects. Whether it’s a group history project, a lab report, or a music video just for fun, the Photos app makes it easy to quickly assemble content, add titles, drop in music, enhance your story with special effects, and share. If you liked making videos with Movie Maker, you’ll love what you can do with the Microsoft Photos App.
Newsroom-inspired 3D effects. We’ve added newsroom-inspired offerings to the 3D effects built into the Photos app. Now your class can add “LIVE” overlays to their video projects, and identify breaking news, 24-hour coverage, or inspiring sports stories.
Video Editor tile: Jump directly into video projects, or start a new one quickly, with the new Video Editor Tile. Your next big story is only a click away.
Surface Go
When we sit down with our education customers, many tell us that they’re looking for hardware that seamlessly integrates with their larger ecosystem of Microsoft-powered devices. Beyond that, our education customers need a device that’s small and sturdy while still providing the performance their students need. And all of this has to be at the right price. That’s why we’re excited about what Surface Go offers for schools, and the magic that it unlocks within each student who uses it.
Surface Go equips both students and teachers with the quality and productivity that Surface is known for in a more compact – and affordable – package. At just 1.15 pounds and 8.3 mm thin, Surface Go packs amazing portable performance into a 10” device. Starting at just $399 MSRP for education customers, it represents a new entry point for the Surface family, while keeping the premium qualities that have come to define Surface.
Surface Go is a great device for schools looking for a Windows 10 device that offers tablet to laptop flexibility, pen and touch input, a natural typing experience with the Surface Go Type Cover, seamless digital inking, and the ability to run full desktop applications.
Early reception to the device has been positive and tech journalists across the world are excited for what Surface Go can do for education.
More information about Surface Go is available here. Education customers who are interested in purchasing Surface Go should contact their Microsoft sales representative or device reseller today.
Intune for Education makes it easy to set up and manage Windows 10 devices in just a few steps, including deploying apps or settings to users, and managing shared devices.
iOS device management features are now available in Intune for Education. Intune for Education is already a great way to manage your school’s Windows 10 devices, and you will now be able to use it to manage apps and settings on your classroom iOS devices. With these new features, Intune for Education continues to grow as a unified, streamlined administrative console to manage your school devices.
This week, the Microsoft Education team is in the Windy City showing off some exciting new technology and curricula to support STEM learning at the annual ISTE conference.
In today’s job market, 50 percent of jobs require technology skills, and in the next 10 years, these types of jobs will outpace non-technology jobs by nearly two to one. It’s more important than ever to help students understand and appreciate STEM fields, to prepare them for the future workplace and to be digital citizens in a rapidly changing world.
Technology can empower educators to deliver inspiring lessons, personalize instruction and build creativity and critical thinking skills, which is why we’re so excited to bring STEM to life with these new tools and programs!
1. Bring the mystery of the oceans to your classroom with new STEM lesson plans
In partnership with BBC Learning, we’re thrilled to announce a new collection of teacher-written, inquiry-based lesson plans to compliment the BBC Earth and OCEANX film, Oceans: Our Blue Planet.
These interdisciplinary experiences engage students in answering four big questions: how ocean currents form, how sharks swim, how deep the ocean is, and how to craft coral reefs.
How do sharks swim?
Learn about the 3D coordinate system by working with physical and digital shark models to understand yaw, pitch, and roll in order to survey a marine environment.
How deep is the ocean?
Students explore remote terrains by modeling and graphing the ocean floors with an ultrasonic sensor to visualize organisms that live in different ocean layers.
How are ocean currents formed?
Students discover how salinity and temperature impact ocean currents by conducting experiments, building electrical conductivity sensors, and analyzing global data.
How to craft coral reefs
Through the power of Minecraft: Education Edition, take your classroom underwater to discover the different types of reefs and what can be done to save them.
Students start by taking on the roles of biological oceanographers and marine geologists, biologists, and physicists. Then, working through the content, they are challenged to write code, build sensors, analyze data, and create in 3D and mixed reality. These hands-on explorations are ISTE and NGSS standards aligned and include reflection, documentation, and assessment activities that are supported by a rich archive of stills and clips made possible by BBC Learning from BBC Studios. What’s more, they can all be done for less than a few dollars with everyday objects.
Check out these great new STEM lesson plans to build future ready skills in your classroom today and show students how to:
Write code
Craft coral reefs and explore shipwrecks in Minecraft: Education Edition using MakeCode scripting
Write sensor programs with Data Streamer Connect
Flash code for both Arduino and Micro:bit microcontrollers
Build sensors
Construct an electroconductivity sensor to measure conductivity of ocean water
Assemble an ultrasonic sensor to map the ocean floor
Engineer a joystick to navigate a robotic shark through a virtual marine environment
Analyze data
Stream real-time data from your sensors into Excel with Data Streamer
Work with global oceanic climate, temperature and salinity big data sets
Compare the world’s mountain heights to the depths of the ocean floor trenches
Work in 3D
Model the five ocean zones in Paint 3D and populate them with marine organisms
Animate a shark model in PowerPoint to understand yaw, pitch and roll
Use a 3D model of the world to understand how ocean currents circulate around the globe
Review and reflect:
Check understanding of mathematical and scientific concepts with interactive visualizations in Excel
Use photo and videos to create lab notebooks, student journals, and presentations
Teachers can also take their students on an underwater global odyssey in Oceans: Our Blue Planet, a BBC Earth and OCEANX film that reveals extraordinary discoveries and untold stories of the oceans’ most astonishing creatures. ISTE attendees can join usnext week for a free viewing of the BBC Earth and OCEANX film, Oceans: Our Blue Planet, and see how it brings this STEM experience to life.
Minecraft: Education Edition continues to grow with 35 million K-12 teachers and students in 115 countries around the world now licensed to use the game to transform the way they teach and learn. Teachers are using Minecraft to teach every subject imaginable and encouraging student collaboration, creativity and digital citizenship. This week, we’re sharing a cool glimpse of new worlds coming to Minecraft: Education Edition.
ISTE attendees this week will get to experience the Update Aquatic for Minecraft: Education Edition, a new set of game features and underwater worlds available for free to all Minecraft: Education Edition users. Students can use coding to build coral reefs, explore shipwrecks and underwater monuments, learn about sustainable fishing, and rescue dolphins. Educators are invited to use the free lessons provided with the update, which will be demoed at ISTE in the Microsoft Education booth by the Minecraft team and members of the Minecraft Global Mentor program.
3. Apply now for a Limitless Libraries grant to enrich the learning experience at your public or school library with mixed reality headsets
Microsoft is excited to announce Limitless Libraries, a new Mixed Reality grant program designed to help foster Mixed Reality adoption in education. The fund is open for applications starting today with the first recipients selected at the end of the summer. Sign up today!
Libraries – both in schools and in the community – have long been a place where students immerse themselves in the learning experience and ignite their creativity, envisioning their favorite stories come to life. With the expansion of digital technology like mixed reality headsets, we see a new world of possibility to transform learning efficiency, retention, and student engagement.
The grant provides libraries with all the resources for getting a Mixed Reality program up and running, including:
Two Windows Mixed Reality headsets and two computers to operate them
Technical training of staff and administration
Assistance with marketing resources and program scheduling
Email support to answer any questions going forward
Access to other grantees
Updates about new content rollouts
Middle schools and High schools (grades 6-12) can apply, as can public libraries. Grant applicants whose programs provide exposure and increased knowledge in STEM, and where a high percentage of participating youth are considered underserved as defined in the local context, will be given priority.
If you’re headed to ISTE, please stop by to say hello and learn more about these new tools and lesson plans and the rest of our exciting ISTE demos, which you can read more about here.
To learn more about Microsoft Education and our tools and technology that help foster inclusion and support personalizing learning for every student, click here.
*Open only to libraries in grades 6-12 in the US, and public libraries in the US. Applications close Monday, July 9, 2018. For details, see the official rules.
