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Online Summer Camp: Minecraft Edition

For Grades 3-8

If they’re going to play video games this summer, they might as well learn along the way!

Make learning fun this summer with Minecraft!

They want to play video games. You want them to learn… But what if you could both get what you want?

During Online Summer Camp: Minecraft Edition, students will be transported to the virtual island of Pangea where they will be asked to use their creativity and ingenuity to complete educational challenges in the world of Minecraft: Education Edition.

With 4-weeks’ worth of self-directed challenges, your child will learn at their own pace and engage their literacy, math, and coding skills. These challenges are designed to be repeatable, so students can start over upon completion and tackle them in a new way.

These screenshots provide a sneak peek into what our online summer camp experience will be like for students!

Pricing ($49.95)

For $49.95, your child will receive access to Minecraft: Education Edition. Our online summer camp world will be available on Monday, June 8, 2020. In the meantime, you will have access to download and play Minecraft: Education Education so your child can get started exploring on their own.

Your child will have access to both Minecraft: Education Edition and our downloadable summer camp world until the end of the calendar year (December 31, 2020).

Key Dates

Access to Minecraft: Education Edition Begins
Immediately

Online Summer Camp Available
June 8, 2020

Last Day to Enroll
July 31, 2020

Access Ends
December 31, 2020

Screenshot of the Minecraft Code Builder and some sample workflows showcasing how the code builder works

Why Minecraft: Education Edition?

While many students are familiar with the original version of Minecraft, the educational version offers a variety of features not available in the traditional game.

For example, the Code Builder is a feature unique to Minecraft: Education Edition that teaches students the basics of coding while they’re building structures in the game. In addition, students have the opportunity to download and engage with hundreds of educational challenges created by teachers across the globe.

Learn More

How does it work?

Upon purchase, students will receive instructions on how to download Minecraft: Education Edition and the world of Pangea.

Inside this virtual world, students will be guided through educational challenges by their virtual camp counselor, Minecraft Steve, who will provide directions on how to perform basic in-game functions and complete challenges, including:

  • Survival 101 — Create a structure that addresses a person’s food, shelter, and water needs
  • VIP Dream Home — Interview a friend or family member and build their dream home based on interests and needs
  • Book/Movie Setting — Build a scene from your favorite book or movie
  • Build a Town — Build a town that has its own infrastructure
  • Create a Zoo or Museum — Use the items/animals you’ve collected throughout the challenges to build a museum/zoo

What will my child learn?

Our customized Minecraft world will engage students’ math and literacy skills, along with “Level Up!” options that teach students the basics of coding.

Additionally, students will be asked to exercise key 21st-century skills, including critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication.

Check out the “sneak peek” below to see how these skills will be used in action!

Sneak peek: Build a town challenge

Here’s an example of what one of our educational challenges will look like and how they will keep your child’s mind engaged this summer.

In this challenge, students will be asked to design and build a town on the virtual island of Pangea. In doing so, they will use the following skills:

  • Math skills — By designing buildings to scale
  • Coding skills —By coding their “agent” to build a road through town
  • Civics skills — By considering the needs of communities within the town
  • Literacy skills — By journaling about how they might handle an emergency situation in this town
  • Critical thinking — By analyzing what infrastructure the town will need to thrive, including water sources, food sources, emergency buildings, etc.
  • Creativity — By designing an entire town in whatever way they think is best!
  • Communication — By creating signs throughout the city to explain the function of different structures

Important Information

Before registering for this online summer camp, here are some things you should know:

  • Access ends at the end of the year — Upon registration, students will be granted access to Minecraft: Education Edition until December 31, 2020 at which point they will lose access to this program.
  • Compatible with most iPads and computer devices EXCEPT Chromebooks — Minecraft: Education Edition can be downloaded on all computer devices except Google Chromebooks. It is compatible with iPads; however, some students have experienced trouble with older model iPads in previous years. For PC devices, Windows 10 is the recommended operating system. This program is NOT available for video game consoles such as Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch.
  • Limited to one device — Once a student begins their challenges on the Minecraft: Education Edition platform, we recommend they complete the rest of their work for camp on the same device, as their work will be saved to that device. If your child will be traveling or visiting relatives this summer, you might consider using a portable device (e.g. a laptop or iPad) for your student to complete their work.
  • No refunds available —  No refunds will be available for Online Summer Camp: Minecraft Edition.
  • Not eligible for academic credit — While our Online Summer Camp: Minecraft Edition challenges students to keep their minds active over the summer, it is not eligible for academic credit.

Registration for Online Summer Camp: Minecraft Edition is now closed!

Thank you for your interest in Online Summer Camp: Minecraft Edition. Registration is now closed. If you would like to be notified when registration opens next year, fill out the form below!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Limited Course Capacity

We’re sorry to inform you that we have reached capacity for several of our Semester 1 and Trimester 1 courses. You’ll notice when attempting to enroll students in our Student Learning Portal that some courses are unavailable. While we are no longer accepting new enrollments for these courses at this time, many courses continue to remain open for enrollment.

With many students across the state 100% remote, demand for our online courses is greater than ever before. Because every course we offer is taught by a Michigan-certified teacher, this high volume of enrollments has created capacity issues for our teachers who provide each and every student with individual feedback.

While the Michigan Virtual team anticipated and planned for significant increases in student enrollments this Fall, the increased demand we’ve experienced has been unprecedented. As a result, we are taking steps to hire even more part-and full-time teachers to support larger numbers of student enrollments for Semester 2 as well as for Trimester 2 and 3. 

For schools that still need online learning options this year, please fill out the form at the bottom of our virtual pathways page to meet with someone to discuss other solutions. While some of our teacher-led courses are full, we may still have the capacity to help you in upcoming terms or can discuss timing to implement a whole-school or collaborative program in which local teachers from your school/district use our online course content to teach students. We also have free course content and resources available for you to use.

We know this is an incredibly stressful time for all, and we’re sorry if the courses you’re looking for are unavailable. We never want to turn away a student who wants to learn from us. Our top concern, however, is student success, and we have a policy to not take on additional enrollments if we cannot guarantee that all students will have a quality online learning experience. 

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the unusually high volume of enrollments we are receiving.