Minecraft: Education Edition’s New World Educates on Internet Safety. Getting a little bit ahead on February 8th’s is Safer Internet Day 2022, Microsoft and Mojang have unveiled an interesting new world for Minecraft: Education Edition that aims to teach kids about staying safe online.
The new single-player world, called “cyber-safe: Home Sweet Hmm,” is described as an hour-long way for kids ages 7-12 to get educated about online safety and privacy, as well as the basic concepts that is behind having a digital identity, through a series of in-game activities.
As stated by Microsoft, The “Home Sweet Hmm” title is expected to carry a double meaning, as it’s both similar to the sound that Minecraft’s non-speaking villagers make and it illustrates the scenario’s key tenet: to “stop and think before deciding to click.”
Currently, all Minecraft: Education edition users would be offered access to “cybersafe: Home Sweet Hmm” entire for free as a part of their membership. The title is expected to also add to the Minecraft Marketplace’s Education collection happening in March of 2022.
The Internet Safety Activities
There were around four scenarios in “CyberSafe” that kids would be able to complete – along with some suggested exercises they can reflect on once they have finished.
“want to play online with me?” well, it is about what to do when the participant is trying to play online with a friend, but cannot figure out which friend request and user handle are the right ones. Kids get to learn about how they can tell the different between the different user names, and why it is important for them to pay close attention to these details when playing online.
The “Online Maze? I can complete it!” activity was designed to teach young players not to share their login information by representing them with a Pro Gamer NPC that would offer them cheat codes in exchange. Then “new emerald armor?! Definitely!” reinforces the idea of not sharing any important personal information or details when a trusted adult NPC has issues with a MineMart order for the emerald armor.
“yummy Pumpkin pie!” rounds out this lesson with the aid of the trusted adult NPC asking the players to order a pie from a trusted website. Young players get to learn how they can determine which of multiple pie-selling websites is trustworthy, and how to go about locating that information.
Verdict
The ultimate goal is to teach kids how they can avoid making hasty decisions online, help them discover the right way and the wrong way to respond to a given scenario, and even show them it is okay to go to a trusted adult for advice when they are not aware of the next step to take.
