Sep 24, 2016 09:06 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

The popular pixel game Minecraft is going to schools this November not to study, of course, but to help students learn their STEM. Before its official release, however, teachers can already try its free trial version to let them gain insight what the features are and whether they want to incorporate it to their lessons.

The Minecraft: Education Edition is the product of Microsoft's acquisition of MinecraftEdu this year. After its test launch this summer, the dev team behind the software reported that more than 35,000 teachers and students around the world have tried it. They used this to get feedback in order to make adjustments to the game before its official release.

The MinecraftEdu team has added some impressive features, such as Classroom Mode, that will enhance the students' learning experience. This comes with a companion app which enables teachers to talk to their students while in the game, manage world settings, give them items, or to teleport the students in different locations from a single interface.

The team also announces that they will incorporate the new version from the game's main release version into the education software on an ongoing basis to provide students the same experience both at home and in the classroom.That means the students can use the same materials and player skins they use at school even at home.

For teachers who still haven't got any idea about Minecraft yet, the team has created a support website where teachers can find tutorials, starter worlds, and free lesson plans on different subjects. The website also has a mentoring program where teachers can connect with each other and trade tips.

Minecraft: Educational Edition requires Windows 10 or OS X El Capitan operating systems as well as a free Office 365 account. The game will require a $5 annual fee when it goes live in November.

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