Minecraft, Microsoft, and Education: A Dysfunctional Polygamy Made In Heaven

It's summer!

A time to enjoy so many flavors of equality!

This was the most pertinent image I could find

when I Googled "Affordable healthcare act, gay marriage, confederate flag"

Summer also means that it's that special time of year when I can write again. 

I'm excited too, because after a fairly professional and technical stagnant 2014-15 school year, 4th grade at ISP is ringing in the new school year with a 1-to-1 iPad program... 

...A mere 5 years since the iPad was launched, 2 years since the Los Angeles school district adopted them, a year since the Los Angles School district abandoned their iPad program, and only a handful of months since the Los Angeles School district asked for a refund.

I say this without hyperbole or sarcasm: I'm pretty excited.


On a slight tangent, check out this magic trick: 
(brought to you by graphicpush)

Behold! A typical Apple advertisement...

Now choose a hyperbole...

Any hyperbole will do!

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Because 4th grade at ISP is going to a 1-to-1 iPad program, this summer is a rebirth of sorts.

It's a time to say goodbye to some old friends (Scratch, get your act together).

And a time to try say, "hiya" to some new ones that look kind of old...

C'mon. Seriously?

So this summer I'm both sad to say goodbye to my old app friends, and excited to try out new ones. Of course I'm looking at several possibly-maybe dead-end relationships.

Only one of these is a teenager. 

Rub the right one

and get three wishes. 

To help celebrate this intro to summer blogging, and this transition between old-tech tools and slightly-less-old-tech tools, it was only fitting that I saw Microsoft promote Minecraft in Education on my PLN yesterday.


I was geeked to see this pop up in the education circles of social media. 

For one, I had completely forgotten that Microsoft had bought Minecraft.

But I also think it's important to point out that Microsoft isn't offering Minecraft as an education tool in this video. 

Instead, it's asking if Minecraft is an education tool. 

And if it is, please let them know how to use it as such. 

Now I'm sure as an educator I could peruse minecraftEdu,com instead of relying on Microsoft promotional videos and feel a little more satisfied. 

But that's what the summer is for!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this parody exalting Microsoft as both a leader and innovator in the tech world:



See you soon!