Microsoft’s Mixer game streaming platform has received a new education category this week. While Mixer is a game service first and foremost, people can use the platform to stream about whatever they want. Amid the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic, Mixer now has an education category to provide streamed learning.
As Mixer is a gaming-first platform, Microsoft will hope people from other industries will start making education-focused content to stream.
As for the new category, it will host streaming classes and lessons for Mixer users. Teachers can also tap into the platform to create virtual remote learning tools.
Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, countries around the world have closed schools and moved into a state of enforced quarantine. Millions of children are home from school and educators are scrambling to find ways to keep students learning for what could be months away from structured education.
https://twitter.com/WatchMixer/status/1242559715508228096
Whether Mixer is the platform to drive those changes remains to be seen. Certainly, there are no many streams in the education category just yet. Either way, every little helps. We expect more streamers will jump on board in the coming days with their own streaming lessons.
Minecraft Education Category
Yesterday, Microsoft introduced a new Minecraft category focused on education. Last week, Microsoft confirmed Minecraft Education is now free for Microsoft 365 users.
Among the tools available are tours of the International Space Station and the ability to learn code on the block-building game.
This free access will last throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and gives people access to all the tools of the specialized education suite.
