Should Minecraft be in the classroom?

Samuel Horti looks at the question of using Minecraft as an educational tool. Does it really help? Or is it a gimmick that gets in the way of real learning?

The topic of Minecraft in schools sparks a lot of passion on both sides of the debate: some teachers, academics, and Microsoft itself believe that Minecraft can change the way children learn. By giving kids lessons inside a tool that they’re excited about, they will learn more, the argument goes. But Bennett and others say that in-game lessons hinder children’s learning by distracting from the subject matter at hand. The question is: how do we know who’s right?

Well worth a look. It's quite a fair exploration, debating positive anecdotal evidence versus the need for real research into whether it's genuinely good for teaching.