A Recap of BETT 2018: Workshops, Demos & Chemistry

Our team spent last week in London for BETT 2018, one of the largest education technology conferences in the world, where we joined Microsoft Education to demo Minecraft: Education Edition. The Minecraft booth offered attendees a range of workshops and colorful photo booth, as well as unique opportunities to learn to play and use Minecraft: Education Edition in the classroom across grades and subject areas. We met hundreds of educators and school leaders from across the UK, Europe and Middle East, many of whom had never played Minecraft.

Recap of Workshops with Lessons

Here is a recap of the Minecraft Education workshops with links to lessons and classroom activities. We were joined by several Global Minecraft Mentors who facilitated workshops and supported educators interested in learning about Minecraft.

STEM and Coding Lessons

• Meenoo Rami and Neal Manegold delivered onstage talks each day about how to teach STEM subjects with Minecraft, and demoed the Mixed Reality feature which allows users to export 3D files and view them in the real world. For more information on MR with Minecraft, visit our Knowledge Base.
• Global Mentor Mark Grundel, who teaches in New Jersey, ran a workshop on “Geocaching in Minecraft” to show how to teach Order of Operations and mathematical expressions in the game. The lesson is available: /lessons/geocaching-lesson/
• Each day we offered a workshop on “Minecraft & MakeCode” with MakeCode’s Jacqueline Russell. Educators learned how to use Code Builder to teach basic computer science concepts in Minecraft. Learn more at: https://education.minecraft.net/trainings/code-builder-for-minecraft-education-edition
• We demoed the new Chemistry features with educators and students, and gathered useful feedback that our developers are implementing. Professor Mark Lorch and Minecraft Mentor Joel Mills designed ten lessons, all available on our website.

History and Architecture Lessons

• Two Global Mentors explored historic cities in Minecraft. Marco Vigelini, an Italy-based Minecraft Mentor, demoed his City of Florence world in a workshop called “Building Florence in 3D.” You can see the full lesson at: /lessons/the-city-of-florence-italy/
• Stéphane Cloâtre taught two workshops on architectural history in Minecraft, “Building a French City in the Middle Ages,” and “Understanding Architecture in Minecraft.” Participants were encouraged to explore how the availability and type of local materials affected the evolution of architecture. Learn more here: https://education.minecraft.net/conquering-new-educational-territories-with-minecraft-education-edition/
• James Protheroe facilitated a workshop on how to bring history to life using Minecraft: Education Edition. He talked about a project he led with students from 15 schools to build a working coal mine in Minecraft, based on a local mining museum in Wales, and how the collaborative platform provides “the perfect vehicle for creating innovative history projects.”

Arts and Writing Lessons

• The “Storytelling in Minecraft” workshop, taught by Simon Baddeley, examined ways to use Minecraft to develop vocabulary and writing skills. View the full lesson at: /lessons/baddopia-dystopian-fiction/
• For those new to Minecraft, we offered several sessions called “Learn to Play” facilitated by Mentor Joe Hammond, Bryan Bonham and other members of the Minecraft Education team. Participants learned the basic controls and Minecraft game mechanics in our Tutorial World. Download the world to try it: https://education.minecraft.net/worlds/tutorial-world/
• Mentor Nic Hughes ran a workshop called “Creative Expression in Minecraft” and explained how he uses the game to empower students to be imaginative writers. If you have ever wondered whether teaching music in Minecraft is possible, Portugal based Mentor Kyriakos Koursaris showed how with his workshop on using note blocks in Minecraft: Education Edition. (Both of these lessons are not yet posted on our site, but you can check out Nic’s blog here and another music in Minecraft lesson here.)

Please get in touch with the Minecraft Education team if you have further questions on how to use Minecraft with your students, or explore over 300 lessons across subject areas.