How to set up MinecraftEdu on the C2K network.

With the turn of the new year, and after having a brilliant couple of weeks off with my wife and 7 month old son Anraí, thoughts will soon turn towards the new term at school.  The theme of the next few weeks in my class will be Space, the Solar System and Reaching for the Stars.  I will shortly begin planning the integration of opportunities of digital learning across all areas of the curriculum, but particularly looking forward to using iPads, continuing programing / coding activities and using MinecraftEdu throughout our exploration of Space.

In the last few weeks I have received requests on how to install and run MinecraftEdu on the C2K system in school.

First of all I have to thank Paul Wade from St.Mary's College Derry and Daniel O'Reilly from the AmmA Centre for their advice on how to download and install the program across the network, thanks Paul and Dan.

As with any installation of new software, I had a good look at the minecraftedu.com website to guide me through the purchasing stage. I bought one server licence to manage MinecraftEdu throughout the school, costing $41 (American website) and 11 client/student licences costing $18 each.

As MinecraftEdu can only be used in educational institutions, I had to provide them with evidence that it was in fact going to be used in a school. I sent off a few screen dumps of the school website and my user account within the C2K system. A few minutes later I received confirmation of my purchase and I was ready to download MinecraftEdu on the C2K system. 

Excitement spread like wildfire around the children in school with the news that MinecraftEdu was nearly available to use.

I had to first of all download the Multiplayer Server licence on to my computer in the classroom.  I installed it into the C:/ drive to ensure it was permanently installed on my computer, but I also copied the server installation software onto my desktop.  This meant that when I logged on to other laptops and desktops in the school, the server licence would be easily accessible on my desktop and the installation program just had to be copied into the C:/ drive of each computer. 

Above is the installation screen for the server licence. I only had to install one server licence so the MinecraftEdu Server Tool box was checked when installing on my workstation. When installing the student licences on other workstations the Minecraft Server Tool was left unchecked. 

Below is the Launcher Menu where children can access the MinecraftEdu world.

After setup was complete, it was just a matter of logging into MinecraftEdu as a teacher, jotting down my Minecraft Server IP address, then logging into MinecraftEdu as a student on another workstation and entering the Server IP address which means that 11 users can simultaneously work on the same activity in the Minecraft World.  As a teacher I can also access the world at the same time, have complete control over the settings and monitor the children's progress.

As you may have seen in my previous blog posts, the children and I had been having a MinecraftEdu trial in December, even using it as the basis of a movement and direction Numeracy lesson for a visit from the ETI.

So far it has been very successful in allowing children to embrace technology as a tool to aid learning in all areas of the curriculum. I expect this to continue in the new year.