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Minecraft: Education Edition’s free update adds teacher pause button and taller buildings

Minecraft keeps strolling along.
Image Credit: Mojang

Minecraft is getting some new tools in its quest to educate.

Microsoft announced a new, free update today for the Education Edition of its block-building game. Minecraft has sold over 106 million copies on all of its platforms for home consoles, mobile, and PC, attracting an enthusiastic, young audience. That could make it a useful tool to get children excited about learning. According to Microsoft, more than 75,000 students and educators have used Minecraft: Education Edition, which launched last November.

Miinecraft: Education Edition 1.0 adds a Global Pause button, which enables the teacher to initiate a break for the entire classroom. It also brings text-to-speech for in-game chat, which could benefit visually impaired students. The update also changes the user-interface for “easier settings management.”

Education Edition 1.0 also increases the max height for the in-game world. This enables teachers and students to build taller creations, up to 256 blocks high.


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The update also allows teachers to upload their Minecraft worlds to the Docs.com platform, which will make them easier to share with students and other educators.