A special edition of Minecraft for schools and educators has been launched by Microsoft and is now available in over 50 countries worldwide.

Based on the popular video game, Minecraft: Education Edition is designed to promote collaboration and problem solving skills among students. Teachers can create lesson plans and projects for the students to complete.

Over 50,000 students and teachers took part in the early access program and their feedback and suggestions helped Microsoft to fine tune the experience across a diverse range of learning environments.

The full version of Minecraft: Education Edition now includes a new Classroom Mode companion app to enable teachers to mange world settings, communicate with students, give help items or teleport them within the Minecraft world.

The complete version of Minecraft: Education Edition is now available to purchase for $5 per user, per year, or through a Microsoft education volume licencing discount.

For more information, lesson plans and to join the community and reach other mentors, see education.minecraft.net