Santeri Koivisto

Co-founder CEO of TeacherGaming LLC

Santeri Koivisto is a co-founder CEO of TeacherGaming LLC, the company that developed MinecraftEdu and aims to change how the world is looking at games in education. Santeri, the son of a teacher and an entrepreneur, was one of the small percentage of applicants accepted into teacher training at University of Eastern Finland and got a Master in Applied Education. As an avid gamer he was disappointed by the quality of educational games on the market, and decided to try a different approach.

Rather than inventing new games that mimicked traditional pedagogy, he wanted to start with what was already an immensely popular game – Minecraft – and stretch it to work for education. Because the game already connected with kids, the MinecraftEdu learning version had a built-in audience. MinecraftEdu is a school-ready remix of the original smash hit game Minecraft. Today more than 15,000 schools in 40+ countries have used MinecraftEdu to teach subjects from STEM to Language to History to Art and more. In 2016 Microsoft acquired MinecraftEdu from TeacherGaming LLC and is now continuing the story!

Santeri's most recent project is 5 More Minutes Ltd aiming to use the understanding accumulated during previous project to create even more sophisticated solutions for games in learning including learning analytics.

Workshop: Coding in Minecraft

ComputerCraftEdu is a free mod that everyone can download for their own PC/Mac/Linux Minecraft. Join the workshop to learn how young kids can access small robot helpers and start learning code. The workshop will start from the very basics, so now prior knowledge of coding is required. We will also look the topic through teacher's eye and debate how CCEdu could be used in a classroom to get kids more active and learning more meaningful.

We shall also get hands-on experience with syntax coding for construction and building engineering projects using command blocks and redstones on a proprietary platform developed by a leading Minecraft education service provider in Asia

Mark Nagurski Co-Founder, CEO, MAKEMATIC

CEO, MAKEMATIC

Mark is the co-founder of MakeMatic, an educational content company working across the creative, cultural and technology sectors. MakeMatic is building an innovative content network to ensure every young person has the opportunity to learn creative and digital skills, using engaging tools like Minecraft. Previously Mark was CEO of CultureTECH, one the largest family-focused technology events in Europe. He was responsible for introducing Minecraft into all post-primary schools in Northern Ireland and has developed Minecraft education projects with government agencies, brands and the arts/cultural sector. Programmes he has designed have been featured in The Guardian, BBC, Forbes and The Economist.

Workshop: Designing Educational Content in Minecraft

In this workshop, Mark Nagurski will share his experience of developing engaging educational content using a range of creative and technology tools, including Minecraft. He’ll discuss how Minecraft can be combined with traditional classroom activities for effective blended learning experiences, and map some of the practical considerations every educator should address whether they’re designing for a single class or an entire country. In the second half of the workshop, participants will work together in teams to design their own Minecraft classes, for both formal and informal learning, before sharing their ideas with the group.