Microsoft | May 21, 2020
Minecraft,” the Microsoft-owned game known for its user-driven content has been at the forefront of mainstream games that utilize educational content.
Much of this content, which was at first fueled by educators in the “Minecraft” community before Microsoft brought it in-house.
Minecraft: Education Edition” has for the last few years played host to virtual curricula that have allowed students to visit and learn about global monuments.
Minecraft, the Microsoft-owned game known for its user-driven content, creative use of blocks and monsters that come out at night, has been at the forefront of mainstream games that utilize educational content. The studio’s “Minecraft: Education Edition” has for the last few years played host to virtual curricula that have allowed students to visit and learn about global monuments, sharpen math skills, understand coding or take puzzle-filled explorations to places as varied as the human body or a NASA-approved jaunt into the International Space Station. Much of this content, which was at first fueled by educators in the “Minecraft” community before Microsoft brought it in-house in 2016, had previously been available only to schools and teachers and worked in tandem with Microsoft educational accounts.
In March, however, Microsoft made an assortment of “Minecraft’s” popular educational tools available for free, with easier access for all players via the “Minecraft Marketplace.” And players have flocked to it. Microsoft reports that there have been more than 50 million downloads globally of educational content since it was made available for free March 24. It’s further evidence that virtual worlds are not just places to play or escape but vessels to learning, connecting or even taking part in digital events. Just this weekend, for instance, “Minecraft” was home to a mock commencement ceremony for UC Berkeley, which featured remarks from Chancellor Carol T. Christ alongside musical performances. It was one of many “Minecraft” graduation ceremonies happening around the globe.
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“Microsoft reports that there have been more than 50 million downloads globally of educational content since it was made available for free March 24. It’s further evidence that virtual worlds are not just places to play or escape but vessels to learning.”
~ Microsoft Says
The UC Berkeley event, said Helen Chiang, the studio head at “Minecraft” developer Mojang Studios, happened organically. When viewed alongside more commercially minded endeavors, such as rapper Travis Scott unleashing a single in “Fortnite” via an interactive experience that attracted more than 27 million participants, this pandemic moment is arguably accelerating an entertainment and cultural landscape in which persistent and evolving virtual worlds don’t just live alongside content crafted by traditional media gatekeepers but become equally as vital.
“Minecraft: Education Edition” has for the last few years played host to virtual curricula that have allowed students to visit and learn about global monuments, sharpen math skills, understand coding or take puzzle-filled explorations to places as varied as the human body or a NASA-approved jaunt into the International Space Station.”
How it all evolves is something of an unknown, as evidenced by the fact that “Minecraft’s” own educational suite was birthed via the game-playing community rather than with the company behind it.“The example right now of universities and college campuses,” says Chiang, discussing “Minecraft” graduations at schools around the globe, “it actually would have been really difficult for us to re-create all these colleges. The fact that we have a tool that passionate Berkeley students can go build their campus, and passionate MIT students can build their campus, that’s where the magic happens. It is not that we do all of these things.” While no one knows yet how the gaming audience will shift when the world begins to emerge from the grips of COVID-19, it’s become clear that interactive entertainment is uniquely positioned for this moment.
Almost daily we discover inventive tactics that users are wielding — not just via “Minecraft” or “Fortnite” but also “Animal Crossing,” Nintendo’s friendly, task-filled game that has become a coronavirus-era phenomena.“Minecraft,” which is turning 11 and is considered by many to be the top-selling game of all time, has now sold more than 200 million copies, says Chiang, and boasts 126 million active monthly players. In April alone, the game saw a 25% increase in new users over the previous month. People are also playing together — “Minecraft’s” multiplayer sessions surged 40% in April. While “Minecraft’s” popularity has never been in doubt, as Mojang Studios gets deeper into the game’s second decade, the company has been looking to expand the “Minecraft” brand. Mojang recently released the augmented-reality mobile game “Minecraft Earth” and on May 26 will issue the hack-and-slash game “Minecraft Dungeons” across multiple platforms.
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Educative | May 20, 2021
Educative, an interactive hands-on skill development platform for software developers and therefore the companies that employ them, today announced a $12 million Series A fundraising round. Matrix Partners led the round with additional funding from new and returning investors, including Trilogy Equity Partners. Lookout founder Kevin Mahaffey, Mercury.com founder Immad Akhund, Segment founder Ilya Volodarsky, and several other angel investors also participated.
Educative has quite 550,000 developers who use the platform, also as a further 1.5 million learners monthly that tap into its free database of short, concise articles on dev topics. The infusion of funding will enable Educative to accelerate its growth within the B2B space where companies including LinkedIn, Samsung, Ford, Visa, GE, and VMware leverage the company's proprietary technology to onboard new engineers, upskill existing ones and develop their engineering managers. the corporate will quite triple its course offerings in 2021 and expand customizable training offerings for teams and enterprises looking to expand the talents of their employees. Educative also plans to rent quite 200 new employees to fuel growth across their global customer base.
"Like skateboarders or swimmers, developers can't learn by watching videos. Instead, they learn by doing. We began to create a learning platform that gives pre-configured training environments within the cloud, making hands-on learning a breeze. Educative now touches 10 percent of developers worldwide," said Fahim ul Haq, chief military officer and co-founder of Educative. "We've experienced accelerated growth over the last year as demand for software developers continues to explode. As remote work, career transitions, and upskilling continue, this investment will help us answer the demand and still deliver quality courses for software developers and therefore the businesses that employ them."
Over the past year, Educative has experienced widespread growth including doubling its user base within the U.S. The platform saw over 100% growth in non-traditional tech hubs like San Diego , Columbus, Charlotte, and Raleigh in 2020. Educative responded by expanding its suite of courses utilized by several technical boot camps and individual learners, also introducing tailored solutions for training, upskilling, and onboarding for businesses.
"Educative has made impressive strides to reply to the challenges related to upskilling software developers during a time when the work market is growing exponentially for knowledgeable programmers," said Jake Jolis, partner, Matrix Partners. "Educative embodies the attributes we value at Matrix Partners — a promising mission, an ambitious team, and a loyal, passionate community. we glance forward to helping Educative continue on its current growth trajectory."
About Educative
Educative is that the leading provider of online learning platforms that engage users with interactive in-browser coding exercises designed to show, test, and develop the skills of engineering managers and developers. Its interactive courses are designed in conjunction with external tech experts and have text-based training which studies show is significantly faster than video-based courses. employed by individuals and businesses alike, Educative's courses help software developers learn more quickly and efficiently than other platforms.
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Akholi | July 07, 2020
New technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics will make most jobs that do not require an education obsolete over the next 20 years. Billions of young people around the world do not have access to the education they need to get a job in this future world.The lack of access to education is not a problem specific to developing and emerging markets. Entire communities across the United States do not have access to the right job skills training and additional education they need to compete. In Detroit alone, up to 47% of all adults are functionally illiterate. Unless we take aggressive steps now, communities around the world will be left even further behind.Today, Akholi is launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise the money needed to expand cost-effective education to every person in the world, regardless of location or circumstance. Money raised will be used to expand Akholi's current global education platform (Jagora Learning Platform) and add additional curriculum to the existing library of over 1,200 courses.
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