The Department of Education and Training Victoria has become the largest provider of Minecraft: Education Edition in the world in its bid to provide new ways for students to explore the world while engaging with technology.

The project kicked off when Rail Projects Victoria partnered with the DET to create a digital copy of the state’s capital in the popular game to help educate Victorians about the Metro Tunnel Project and construction taking place beneath Melbourne.

It was also seen as an opportunity to create a learning module about the archaeological work being undertaken as part of the development.

Digital learning coach at DET, Stephen Elford, led the development of Mini Melbourne and believes it may quadruple in size from the 600,000 square metres of the city already mapped out in Minecraft.

The Department has made the platform available to its 1,600 public schools and 600,000 students, and it’s also available to the general public for through the Java, Bedrock and Education editions of the game.

Elford said the platform is readily adapted into a number of curricula for different age groups, with more content being added constantly by students, teachers and the general public.

“It changes the way you look at what learning is, what assessment is,” he said.

“The curriculum stays the same – but Minecraft: Education Edition gives you the opportunity to teach students in a different way and for students to demonstrate learning in a way we haven’t been able to before. It really does shift classrooms in an astonishing way.

This project has been named a finalist in the Education category of the iTnews Benchmark Awards for 2020.