Classroom-focused Minecraft: Education Edition is hitting iPad in September

Minecraft: Education Edition, an educational version of the popular world-building game specifically designed for classroom use, is hitting iPad in September, Microsoft said today.

It’s unclear if Apple will show off the app during its September keynote.

The reason Microsoft added iPad support to the cross-platform game is because school districts already have iPads. Minecraft: Education Edition is optimized for pure touch input and will support newer Education Edition features introduced earlier this year.

The Windows maker wrote:

Learn in an immersive world that promotes creativity, collaboration and problem-solving. Through Code Builder, students connect to popular learn-to-code platforms and engage deeply with computer science concepts as they design and create.

Learn more about this exciting new way to experience coding from the experts at Tynker, Code.org, Minecraft and educator Melissa Wrenchey along with her students at Tesla STEM High School in Redmond, WA.

The game first launched to the public in late 2016 on Windows 10 and macOS.

Volume licensing will be available via Microsoft’s online store for education and third-party resellers. Microsoft has said that schools will pay for the game on an annual subscription basis. A free version will be available with up to 25 teacher logins and ten student logins.

According to GeekWire, teachers in schools that are licensed through Microsoft 365 for Education (A3 or A5) will already have access to the game and may be able to download it onto iPads when it launches. In that case, however, the school administrator will need to assign the available game licenses to the teachers who want to use Minecraft: Education Edition.

Deirdre Quarnstrom, Microsoft’s General Manager of Minecraft Education, has confirmed that students on Windows, Mac and iPad will all be able to play and connect to one another.

For more information, check out the Minecraft: Education Edition website.