Microsoft’s Hack the Classroom event, offered for the first time at ISTE, attracted an overflow crowd — as well as a large virtual audience — excited to see how the newest Microsoft tools are being used in schools. Lisa Floyd, educator and STEAM thought-leader, set the tone with a look at the importance of computational thinking skills for today’s students. This was echoed by teachers from several different schools who showed how Code Builder, a new extension for Minecraft: Education Edition, is allowing students of all ages to use Tynker, Scratch and Microsoft MakeCode to customize the popular Minecraft environment. Panelists also drilled down on the power ofMicrosoft Teams, which turns Office 365 for Education into a digital hub with a variety of tools for collaborative classrooms and professional learning communities. An online version of the Hack the Classroomevent will be available on demand through September here.
