Are you skilled in Minecraft: Education Edition and interested in helping to build an engaging and fun summer learning experience? Michigan Virtual is seeking a contractor to develop a Minecraft summer learning experience for 3rd through 8th graders using the Minecraft Education Edition (M:EE). The project will involve creating a new Minecraft World that students can download and work in. The world will be the “course shell,” containing challenge instructions, directions, examples, videos, and links to additional resources.
Description of the request
The contractor selected for this project should anticipate working collaboratively alongside Michigan Virtual in order to ensure that work is performed on-schedule, on-budget, and based on our requirements. As an organization, we’re open to what the final world will look like, but expect that the vendor selected would share their expertise in the design of this Minecraft experience, though we envision something with a park or forest-like setting with a map that participants follow from the “Welcome Center” to each challenge in the world.
We envision the learner being dropped into the “Welcome Center” where they will find initial instructions, game play tips, and a map that lists the challenges and how they can find them in the world. Once the participant navigates to a challenge location they will be presented with instructions for the challenge in that area, including a way to document and submit their work. Each challenge should include a basic challenge that any participant could complete, as well as a “level up” aspect of the challenge, such as using coding as a skill, for more advanced participants. Examples of the world and visual examples on page 5.
Desired characteristics of the deliverable created include:
- This product should be FUN! We are aiming to make this a fun and enjoyable learning opportunity that still allows students to exercise valuable skills in a non-academic setting.
- The build download size needs to be constrained enough to be able to work on a variety of devices.
- “Easter Eggs” are encouraged!
- The experience must be intuitive enough that a facilitator is not needed. If the participant needs help, the resources provided in the Welcome Center should be sufficient and self-explanatory so that students can participate with minimal support.
- Learners are easily able to submit their work. This is to allow some work to be showcased on a website or forum. The work will not be graded or evaluated.
Required Elements
- A Welcome Center: This will serve as a “home base” from which learners will begin their experience and partake in warm-up exercises before beginning work on the challenges. They will also return here after each challenge to access a “mailbox” from which they can submit their work. The participants will also get to meet “Virtual Camp Counselor Steve” who will help guide them through the world. The getting started exercises should consist of pre-work challenges or training activities that include signs with basic instructions and embedded welcome videos and instructions to prompt users through tasks, including:
- General navigation and movements
- Map reading
- Digging for water
- Identify your coordinates
- “Back to Start”
- Initial instructions
- Book and Quill feature “Camp Journal”
- Exporting your builds
- Adding items to your inventory/crafting table
- A “MailBox” that instructs students how how to submit their work upon completing a challenge
- The Welcome Center will also house links to resources and other elements that might be helpful for students as they work on their challenges. After completing the Welcome Center exercises, the participant should receive instructions and a map for getting to the challenges, which they can work on in any order they choose.
- A Survival 101 Challenge: In this challenge, learners will need to amass resources and build structures to address their basic survival needs of food, water, and shelter. This challenge area should include:
- A welcome from NPC Camp Counselor Steve
- Water sources (lakes, rivers, etc.)
- Various opportunities for food (seeds to plant, animals to corral, orchards, etc.)
- A few options of materials to construct their shelter (trees to cut down, etc.)
- “Level Up” challenge: have your agent build your shelter
- A “mailbox” (near Steve) for learners to submit work
- A unique animal to collect
- VIP Dream Home Challenge: In this challenge, learners will interview a friend or family member and build their dream home based on their identified interests and needs.
- A welcome from NPC Camp Counselor Steve
- Various types of material learners can use to build their house
- “Level Up” challenge: Code your agent to build a room in your house
- A “mailbox” (near Steve) for learners to submit work
- A unique animal to collect
- Book/Movie Setting: In this challenge, learners will build a scene from their favorite book or movie.
- A welcome from NPC Camp Counselor Steve
- Various types of material learners can use to build their setting
- A blank sign for the title
- “Level Up” challenge: Code your agent to build a room in your house
- A “mailbox” (near Steve) for learners to submit work
- A unique animal to collect
- Build Your Own Town Challenge: In this challenge, learners will construct a town that includes a recognizable infrastructure, including a water source(s), food source(s), transportation, health and safety features, and entertainment for its citizens. The following elements should be included:
- A welcome from NPC Camp Counselor Steve
- Water sources (lakes, rivers, etc.)
- Various opportunities for food (seeds to plant, animals to corral, orchards, etc.)
- Lots of materials to construct buildings
- “Level Up” challenge: Code your Agent to build an entertainment venue for your town
- A “mailbox” (near Steve) for learners to submit work
- A unique animal to collect
- Create a Museum or Zoo: In this challenge, learners will use the items or animals they’ve collected through work on each of the other challenges to build a zoo. (This challenge can be near the “Build Your Town” challenge.) The following elements should be included:
- A welcome from NPC Camp Counselor Steve
- Lots of materials to construct buildings/containment areas
- “Level Up” challenge: Code your Agent to build a containment area for one of your animals
Submit Your Interest and Quotation
Responses must be organized in the manner and format described below. Submissions must be sent electronically in .pdf format.
- Contractor Information
- Please provide your legal name, your past experience, and your legal status as a contractor (corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.) and state of corporation or state of residence. Also include your contact information, including phone, email, and mailing address. Also include whether you will be completing the work or if you expect others to be involved in the project, either as employees or subcontractors to you.
- Statement of Interest
- Provide a short statement of interest that includes why you are interested, confirmation of your availability to complete the work in the desired timeframe, your related experience, an estimate of the hours and budget you estimate requiring to complete the work (only an estimate, we’ll refine it with you as we also refine the work plan), and any recommendations you have for improving on the planned experience. We also welcome any questions that you have.
- Related Experience
- Examples of past work or experiences that illustrate your ability and experience with Minecraft: Education Edition.
- Project Work Plan
- Describe your proposed approach to completing the work as described in this RFQ.
- Pricing
- Provide an estimate of hours that you anticipate being required to complete the work associated with this RFQ, as well as a total estimated budget for completing the work. A final budget for this work will be determined based on discussions with the selected vendor.
- References
- Provide the names, title, and contact information of references for a minimum of one similar project or work experience.
Correspondence
Please direct all correspondence and questions related to this RFQ and the required elements to the Michigan Virtual single point of contact shown below.
Melissa Graeser
Project Manager
Michigan Virtual
920 Municipal Way, Lansing, MI 48917
[email protected]
Important Dates
- Wednesday, February 26, 2020 – RFQ is posted to the Michigan Virtual website with Non-Disclosure Agreement.
- Monday, March 9, 2020 – Questions due to Michigan Virtual
- Friday, March 13, 2020 at noon – Written quotations due to Michigan Virtual
- Wednesday, March 18, 2020 – Award notification to Vendors
RFQ: Summer Minecraft Experience
Other Items
By releasing this RFQ, Michigan Virtual makes no guarantee of any awards of work to any respondents now or in the future. Additionally, portions of the RFQ may be awarded to multiple Vendors, and coordination and cooperation of effort between Vendors may be required.
Michigan Virtual will own all copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property, and multimedia assets associated with any content created with this Minecraft initiative. No copying or further distribution of this Minecraft initiative will be permitted under this agreement.
