Minecraft is the extremely popular online video game sweeping the nation, and Youth Digital, a tech company providing courses that teach kids to code, design 3D modeling, and develop apps, has rolled out a new online course called Server Design 1 to teach kids how to code using the game, according to a CNET.com article. The program enables kids to be masters of their own, self-created online environments. The best part is that they can do this while playing their favorite game, Minecraft, with their friends.
Youth Digital provides an interface to subscribers (at a cost of $250 a year) that combines Minecraft and coding. Kids have access to curriculum, tools, and a hosting service that lets them create their own Minecraft worlds.
Employers increasingly want code-literate employees, so starting your kid learning coding early is important. Schools are increasingly adding coding to their curricula as evidence that it is becoming a necessary job skill. Consider the information below from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about employment projections in the IT field:
Employment and output in computer systems design and related services are projected to grow rapidly over the next decade, outpacing similar professional, scientific, and technical industries and the economy as a whole. Between 2010 and 2020, output in computer systems design and related services is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 6.1 percent, compared with 3.6 percent for the broad industry category—professional, scientific, and technical services—and 2.9 percent for all industries. . . Employment of programmers in computer systems design and related services is projected to grow 29 percent from 2010 to 2020.
Sitting in front of a computer, just learning to type code is not that fun, though, so that’s where Youth Digital’s ability to combine a video game kids love with learning coding comes into play. Kids’ creativity is not stifled as they generate their own online worlds. Children between the ages of 8 and 14 can manipulate the game’s code and make it their own with Server Design 1, and what’s not cool and fun about that?