If you’re an educator, this will not be news to you: Kids love Minecraft.
In fact, you’ve probably even thought to yourself, wouldn’t it be great if students could get as excited about science, math or social studies as they do about mining for emeralds and building rollercoasters with redstone?
Well, maybe they can.
Minecraft has many classroom applications for elementary students up through high schoolers. You can use it to teach social studies, language arts, engineering, science and team building using the challenge-based learning framework.
Want to learn how to use Minecraft EDU in your classroom? Check out these six ISTE 2015 sessions on Minecraft (type Minecraft in the program search box to find more):

Sunday

Starting a Minecraft Pilot Program Using Minecraft EDU. Learn how you can get involved in a Minecraft EDU pilot focusing on grades 3-5 (or older). Teach perimeter, area and volume in the MinecraftEDU platform. This workshop runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and requires additional fees.

Minecraft Power World: Learning About Electricity and the Power Grid. Discover a Minecraft Energy World that teaches students the various aspects of energy production, distribution and usage. In this world, students build houses, connect them to the power grid and then work toward becoming a self-sustainable community. This poster session happens from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Monday

Explore the Minecraft Makerspace. Complete a K-8 social studies assignment using Minecraft in this BYOD session. Learn about best practices for Minecraft as well as avenues for using the games in educational environments. This BYOD session runs from 8:80 to 9:30 a.m. Participants must have a laptop with Minecraft installed.

Build a Learning Community with Minecraft. Learn to build a unique community using Minecraft and empower students to learn about digital citizenship, collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking. Get some surprising insights into how kids' participation in a virtual world can improve your face-to-face classroom environment. This lecture runs from 11 a.m. to noon. Devices not required.

Tuesday

Collaborating to Preserve Historic Places: Minecraft as a Tool in Learning. Hear about how a large community created 200+ historic sites in Minecraft for the National Park Service and History Colorado. This poster session runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

STEM and Coding with Minecraft. Learn how Minecraft can be a fun, effective way to teach STEM and coding skills. During this free hands-on workshop designed by teachers, you’ll walk away with an understanding of redstone, modding and simple STEM lesson plans. Basic Minecraft proficiency or completion of the Intro to Minecraft workshop is required. This workshop will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and several other timeslots.