Collaboration is Cool

Well my first collaboration with another teacher working with MinecraftEdu happened just the other day. Bob from LA has been using Minecraft in his class for a while, here is a link to his blog, but now he is investigating the Edu mod to see if it suits his needs better. After watching some of my tutorial videos he sent me an email asking some questions about what the Edu mod can do, so I invited him onto my school server to explain how I set up my 'spawn holding cell' on my 3D build map.

We spent about 2 hours running through how to use the advanced build tools available in the Edu mod, and this is where I think my videos are lacking, I think they explain what the features are and what you can do, but not how to do it, so now I have a much clearer idea of things that need to be recorded to help out teachers who want to use Minecraft in their classrooms.

On the map making side, I have not spent as much time as I probably should have but I have started working on making the cell membrane into a 3 dimensional shape so I will be able to see where I need to place more organelles. I have found that 'wire framing' is the easiest way to create these shapes, so the top of the cell membrane has been wire framed, and I have started on the bottom. I will fill in the bottom when ready, but I am going to leave the top open so that daylight lights the cell while I am working on it. Here are the latest screenshots.

 This is where I started, just to give you a point of reference.

 The beginnings of the frame, I find this much easier to get the shape I want. I just stand at the top of the shape and hold the right mouse button until the blocks reach me.

 I figured I should frame a bit excessively as it will be easier to fill in the gaps.

The top frame is complete.

 

The start of the bottom frame.

Thanks for taking the time to read again. If you have the Edu mod and are interested in working together on maps, or would like an introduction on the build tools before I manage to record more tutorials let me know in the comments.