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MineCraft EDU anti-grief world for teachers

OK over the last couple of years I’ve occasionally used Minecraft Education in the classroom to varying success. Sometimes it works, sometimes it falls in a big fat steaming heap and makes me hate life. I tend to keep it simple, with a build challenge… who can build the best tower? who can build a bridge? build a school!

So what I built was a simple flat creative world with 24 plots of land feel free to make more, although I think 30 concurrent players is the max. You collect your students usernames (I do this via a google form) and change the simple in-game code so each plot is only accessible by that student to prevent them destroying each others builds, sometimes I give a team access to work together. There is also a structure block on each plot that students can use to export their build as a 3D file which can be used with a 3D printer or perhaps in a Blender animation (which is how I mostly use it in my animation class).

There are lots of uses. Be warned though, students found a loophole in my first attempt to secure their areas. I quickly solved that one and prevented further bloodshed, however, recently they started using Ender Pearls to teleport into areas and be a menace.

To prevent this I made another command block with a /kill all ender pearls command, but this only works when you are near enough to activate that command. Then there are other ways of dealing with anti-social students, you can imprison them in game as a time out until they change their ways but it can quickly become a negative experience for everyone.

Use these files as you please, I’ve included an empty world, a sample of some student work and a PowerPoint which explains how to use it and change the code to suit. It should be pretty simple.

Download the files (including instructions)

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Mr Sully is an educator in Canberra Australia. He teaches Industrial Technology, Design, Computing, Graphics and Construction. He’s trying to use this blog and Twitter to promote Design and Technology education and all the good things we do. Feel free to make comments on stories or just make contact to talk shop.

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