Download and sign in
To make the most out of this module, Minecraft Education be downloaded onto the device you're using. Devices that support Minecraft Education are Windows 7, 8.1, 10, and 11, Macs, iPads, Chromebooks and Mobile. Review Supported platforms for Minecraft Education for more information on available platforms.
Download Minecraft Education
The website should recognize the device you're on and automatically have the appropriate download ready for you.
Watch and do: Download (22 seconds)
Depending on your device, a prompt may ask for the setup wizard to be completed. After that, you can make sure it's showing up in your list of apps. You're now ready to sign in and learn to play with us!
Sign in: Check eligibility
It's necessary to have an Office 365 Education with Minecraft licensing in order to teach with Minecraft.
If your school told you that you have Minecraft Education licensing, great! You can skip this part to sign in. If you aren't sure that you have licensing, let's check your eligibility and look at options.
Select to check for eligibility
At the linked webpage input your Office 365 email account from your school to see if you have licenses. If it indicates you do, you can move down below to sign in.
No license? Option 1: Purchase Minecraft
If you aren't currently eligible, you may first want to double-check with your IT department. If not, you have several options to acquire a Minecraft license.
- Your school can purchase volume licensing (good if your school wants to give licenses to all teachers).
- School administrators and teachers can purchase individual subscriptions just for your classroom and students for a little over $5/user/year.
- Not at a school? If you homeschool or run a camp, club, or other organization, you can purchase an individual license for your child or students in your camp or club for $12/user/year.
No license? Option 2: Trial Minecraft
Is your account not eligible for a license and you're not ready to purchase one? No problem, for the purposes of the Minecraft Teacher Academy, you can use a free trial. You must have an Office 365 or a Microsoft 365 account. When you sign in, if you have an Office 365 account, you'll have 25 free log-ins as a teacher and 10 free log-ins for students.
This should suffice to complete the Minecraft Teacher Academy, but to teach with your students, you'll want to explore the licensing options above. Have more questions? Check out the support page for more information or feel free to file a support ticket.
Sign in
Now that you have your account ready, we'll start by signing into Minecraft Education.
Once you sign in, you’ll see a center menu of buttons but to the right you’ll see your name and a button with a clothes hanger on it. Select that clothes hanger button to open a library of what are called skins. A skin is your appearance in the game and a valued part of Minecraft Education. Skins allow users to feel connected to their character. To the right of each pack category, you’ll see a plus symbol. Selecting that will expand that skin pack to select one you like. Use the back arrow in the top left corner to go back to the menu to explore a different pack. Once you select a skin you like, select Confirm and the back arrow to get to the main menu again.
- Why might it be important to allow students the time to change their skin before they begin to create in Minecraft Education?
- Consider the following example from the classroom: Students are asked to create a Minecraft world based on the setting of the story they're currently reading, like The Martian by Andrew Weir. What skin might they choose from the list to represent their character?
If you want to adjust the audio or music volume, select Settings and Audio along the left menu. You can adjust the audio levels to fit your preference or learning environment needs. Don’t worry about all the settings right now, we’ll slowly explore more of them the more we play.
Watch and do: Sign in, choose skin, and select settings (1 minute 22 seconds)
Select play on the video while also navigating in Minecraft. Sign in and navigate to the skin library to select one you connect with. Pause the video if you need more time.
Next step
Now that you' have Minecraft Education downloaded and you're signed in, you're ready to begin building and experiencing a lesson plan firsthand!