The world's first Minecraft(R) x programming education x free learning mod beta version has been released (Hack Co., Ltd.)

Huck Co. , Ltd., which

runs programming classes for children , where Morita, our director, serves as the representative director, has created 8x9Craft (Hack We will release the beta version of ``Craft'' on March 10, 2017.

8x9Craft details URL: http://craft.8x9.jp/ja/gettingstarted/

Below is the content of the press release.

■Reasons for releasing Mods for programming education and learning

In the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "About the ideal form of programming education at the elementary school level (summary of discussions)",

• ``As a prerequisite for implementing programming education, the importance of qualities and abilities that have long been emphasized as the foundation of all education, such as developing language skills and developing thinking skills in each subject, will become increasingly important. I can think of it.”
• ``Programming education is about giving children the experience of being able to instruct a computer to perform a desired process, while also helping them learn the skills that are universally required throughout the ages, no matter what kind of job they pursue in the future.'' Developing "programming-like thinking" etc.

Therefore, it is important to develop programming thinking from elementary school students and develop the character that society wants.

Furthermore, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's ``Survey Results on the Latest Trends and Future Estimates of IT Human Resources,
'' ``As Japan's population declines, the working population (particularly the young population) will decrease, so
the acquisition of IT human resources will be more difficult than at present. ``It is expected that it will become more difficult to secure IT personnel,'' making it an urgent task to secure IT human resources.

In addition, the introduction of programming education in elementary, middle, and high schools is being considered in the next curriculum guidelines to be introduced from 2020 onwards.

we believe that by using the extremely popular Minecraft, children can enjoy programming,

 

 

■Three features of “8x9Craft” (Hack Craft), a mod for programming education and learning

Until now, there have been tools that allow programming through Minecraft.

been implementing programming education
using a mod called ComputerCraft However, the conventional tools that allow programming in Minecraft
were just an extension of ``tools for enjoying Minecraft''.
These tools are of course great tools, but
they also have some shortcomings when it comes to programming education and learning.

we developed it from scratch, aiming
to solve the inadequacies of conventional tools and create It was planned with the assumption that a wide range of ages would be used, including 3rd graders and above if accompanied by an instructor, and 5th graders and above alone.

I will explain three ways in which the newly released "8x9Craft" (Hack Craft) is different from other tools.

1. Tools made for “programming education and learning”

With conventional tools, it has been difficult to judge the optimization of a program and rank it as superior or inferior, but with "8x9Craft" (Hack Craft), it is possible to determine the superiority or inferiority of a program using the concept of "score". This makes it possible
to find the most optimal way to write programs.
Also, the difficulty of using the programming editor in ComputerCraft
was a major obstacle when learning programming.
For this reason, we are particular about the editor, and
it is based on Microsoft's open source editor MonacoEditor, making it an extremely easy-to-use editor.

2.Mod that allows you to learn JavaScript

"8x9Craft" (Hack Craft) is a Mod that allows you to learn Javascript.
Most of the conventional tools for programming in Minecraft were in the Lua language, and
the learning results were not directly linked to the development of familiar applications.
"8x9Craft" (Hack Craft) allows you to learn programming using Javascript, so
you can use the learning results to develop familiar applications.

3.Basically free to use

"8x9Craft" (Hack Craft) can be used free of charge for non-commercial purposes only.
Please contact us separately regarding the commercial version of "8x9Craft" (Hack Craft).
Kids Programming School 8x9 (Hack) is currently incorporating ``8x9Craft'' (Hack Craft) on a trial basis, and
plans to start full-scale operation from April.

■Future outlook

We are planning to release the official version within three months, and we are also planning to release the commercial version of "8x9Craft" (Hack Craft) around the summer of 2017.
We are currently developing "8x9Craft" (Hack Craft) so that it can be used in each programming classroom.
We are also considering expanding overseas, and are currently creating an English Wiki site.
Additional tools are also in development. For example, what is the best way to move when racing using "8x9Craft" (Hack Craft)?
We are developing blocks that allow you to learn things like this experientially both on your computer and in the real world.

By using "8x9Craft" (Hack Craft),
we would like to carry out activities that will increase the number of children who can program around the world.

■ Contact information

[For inquiries regarding this matter]
Person in charge: Terui
Email: [email protected]
Phone number: 078-778-7891

[Hack Co., Ltd. Company Profile]
Company name: Huck Co., Ltd.
Representative: Kotaro Morita, Representative Director
Date of establishment: January 29, 2016
Address: Town Court Rokko, 3-2-16 Bingo-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture 201
Capital: 3 million yen
Business content: Programming education business for children
Phone number: 078-778-7891
Email: [email protected]
URL: http://www.8x9.jp/