Aimed to provide learning opportunities for 23 million Filipino students
PARENTS listen up! Gaming is good for you kids and playing Minecraft can provide a gateway to increased academic engagement and even a career in programming.
There are a total of 27.7 million students in the Philippines and some 23 million of them will directly benefit from the pilot of the mobile version of Minecraft: Education Edition, a collaboration between the Department of Education (DepEd) and Microsoft. The project gives students early access to an expanded learning experience in school, at home, or in any remote learning environment.
The pandemic reduced enrolment from 27.7 million to 25 million and shut down over 2,000 schools around the archipelago, literally imprisoning elementary and high school students in both public and private schools. The likelihood to start their regular face-to-face classes is looming for the coming semester according to the DepEd. The situation will create a hybrid learning situation with some students continuing on the current online channels and others going to school.
The shift in the learning environment is a perfect cauldron for the game-based learning platform.
Minecraft: Education Edition is designed to promote creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive and secure digital environment. Educators worldwide use the platform to engage students across various levels and curriculums to bring abstract concepts to life, making learning interactive and fun.
“With the right tools and program interventions, game-based learning approaches can improve a child’s memory capacity, computer, and simulation fluency, strategic thinking, problem-solving, and build other skills such as map reading or practical thinking,” Joanna Velez Rodriguez, Public Sector Director of Microsoft Philippines said.
For several years public and private schools across the Philippines have been integrating Minecraft: Education Edition as part of teaching instruction to increase academic engagement and stimulate students’ interest in learning. The mobile version allows more access and availability especially during the pandemic. With 84 million smartphone users in the Philippines, Microsoft aims to provide access to game-based learning to more students nationwide.
“Because of the availability of Minecraft: Education Edition, more teachers and students can access the application whether using Windows, Mac, iPad, Chromebook, or even your android mobile devices. At Microsoft, we remain committed to supporting DepEd in preparing our teachers and students for future skills by making technology accessible to everyone. Our partnership has always been anchored on enabling quality and accessible education by supporting the digital transformation of the DepEd and the learning journeys of students and teachers in the Philippines,” Rodriguez adds.
Designed for students of all learning styles and all grade levels, Minecraft: Education Edition provides more than 300 Minecraft worlds to explore and over 600 standards-aligned lessons to engage learners across the curriculum from history, languages, social and emotional learning, equity and inclusion, and STEM-focused areas such as chemistry, coding, and much more.
With the tools available on the platform, teachers can easily curate lesson plans for specific learning outcomes. Through these project-based lessons, students develop critical 21st-century skills which they can apply in their future workplaces. Minecraft: Education Edition for mobile devices ensures the platform is more accessible than ever to teachers and students.
“On behalf of the DepEd, I want to express my gratitude to the people behind this endeavor making the Philippines the first country where Minecraft: Education Edition for mobile is being launched for pilot testing,” Undersecretary Alain Del B. Pascua of the DepEd said.
DepEd is working closely with Microsoft and its Global Training Partners for the broader use of Minecraft: Education Edition in the country’s education system.
“To our 900,000 thousand teachers and 23 million learners, use this opportunity to enhance teaching and learning using technology with Minecraft: Education Edition. Let us encourage more teachers and learners to actively use this tool for game-based learning to improve teaching and the learning processes in today’s technologically advanced world. I would like to thank Microsoft Philippines for your continued partnership and shared commitment with the DepEd in providing the technological needs and support and ultimately a better tomorrow for our teachers and learners.”
With Felta Multimedia, DepEd has recently implemented a pilot test to enable virtual field trips for students using Minecraft: Education Edition to foster learning in Philippine history. DepEd is also providing a series of free online tutorials on Minecraft: Education Edition, together with Line Learning and Development Solutions, through its ETulay sessions on social media and continues to capacitate and empower more teachers and learners with the support of DepEd’s “Minecraft Champions” and “Minecraft Certified Educators”.
The pilot release of the application is exclusive in the Philippines and is now available for download through the Google Play Store. Students and teachers can access the platform by signing in using their Microsoft 365 school accounts.
