Hello all! Today, I'm honoured to be featured as a guest blogger for the @mrkempNZ blog. Check out the awesome article here:

How Minecraft is Changing Education and the World
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Hello all!

Apologies for being a blousy logger, or even a lousy blogger, but I'm back with a few little updates. Naturally, the South Africa event was AMAZING, and since then I've accomplished a few more things. Minecraft Education Edition is now officially DEPLOYED on every device at NIS, and students are doing so many amazing things on it, I don't know how I can even begin to blog about it. I'll put something together soon, but in the meantime, please check out my awesome lessons that have now been published:

Build the Eiffel Tower!!!
https://education.minecraft.net/pHNDy

Build & 3D Print Useful Stuff!!!
https://education.minecraft.net/pHNDy

More lessons are on the way!!!

Some other interesting things that have happened are that I got my Minecraft Certified Educator and MIE badges (finally!), and Microsoft saw fit to award our school the title of "Microsoft Showcase School", which is amazing!!!! Well done NIS! Check out the badges below:

Hello all!

Just a quick post to say that I have been selected to speak at an event in Johannesburg, South Africa!!! Please follow the event here:

http://365edu.events/

​More to come soon!!!

Hi there! 

My name is Ben Parsons, and I currently live in the Philippines where I work as the IB Diploma Programme Coordinator at Noblesse International School. That's me above wearing the Boba Fett hat. My lovely wife Grace is Princess Leia, R2D2 is my 6-year old daughter Aurelia, and the little guy in the Yoda suit is my 2-year old, Max. 

My passion in education is the principled integration of technology. I believe that my students should learn real-world, 21st century skills and understand real-world, 21st century issues. I think one of the most dangerous phrases in education is "we've always done it this way," and both students and teachers need to be risk-takers, continually innovating and pushing the limits of what is possible with today's technology. 

In addition to running the IB programmes at my school, I am the G Suite administrator and Edtech coach. I frequently attend and speak at international EdTech conferences run by Google Apps Events, Microsoft, and other tech giants. I have presented at conferences in Manila, Vietnam and Singapore on topics such as Google Apps, using technology to improve assessment and feedback practices at schools.  

My current focus is the integration of Minecraft, Computer-Aided Design (CAD), and 3D Printing, and I have presented my ideas on this to teachers from all over the world. If you are unsure what these exciting technologies are, or how they can be integrated, watch the very short video below, and ask any questions in the comments section. If you would like to start using Minecraft, CAD and 3D Printing at your school today, please click the button below: