'Minecraft: Education Edition' news, update, features: Microsoft releases new 'Minecraft' game to encourage students to go to school

The "Minecraft" is known to be a classic sandbox PC game dating back in the 90's. There have been a few iterations made from the original Minecraft game, although it was never seen as something that the students can pick a few important lessons from it. As Microsoft acquired the game's developer, Mojang, the company has transformed the game into something very different that will be truly helpful for the children's performance at school.

As reported by Slash Gear, the "Minecraft: Educational Edition" was released by Microsoft earlier this year, making the PC platform's small game into an important educational too. Instead of being a nice game for people to kill some time, "Minecraft: Educational Edition" will be beneficial to a school or other educational institutions that aim to motivate their students to study hard.

Microsoft has already released earlier a revised version of the "Minecraft" game, although it was more focused on artificial intelligence research. On the other hand, the "Minecraft: Educational Edition" is intended for young learners who may find the everyday work at school to be quite challenging.

The latest "Minecraft" edition is not merely focused on the players building things, but it is also fixed to promote the young minds' critical thinking so that they would be able to solve more complex word problems. Specifically, "Minecraft: Educational Edition" includes pre-made lesson syllabus, computer-based tutorials, and starter learning packs that will help the students know more about the game's mechanics, Mac Rumors reported. The game will also introduce the "Minecraft Mentors," which will serve as the students' hands-on teachers.

The main objective of "Minecraft: Educational Edition" is to keep the students engaging in their school activities, while their teachers can focus on other subjects. According to The Verge.

The teachers can also build worlds that they can link to whatever they need to teach their students. Possible connections with the "Minecraft" building activities include a particular book's setting or a historic structure.

"Minecraft: Educational Edition" is only available for purchase among schools, libraries, museums, and other home-based school organizations. The annual payment for the game is $5 per user.