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Swedish School Makes Minecraft Lessons Compulsory
SchrodingerZ writes "The Viktor Rydberg school in Stockholm, Sweden, has announced that they have included Minecraft into the curriculum for their 13-year-old students. The program is not meant to teach children about math or language, but rather as a tool to inspire creativity in the classroom. 'They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future,' Viktor Rydberg teacher Monica Ekman told English-language newspaper The Local. 'It's not any different from arts or woodcraft,' she added."
''They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future,"
My son must have somehow gone to that school without telling me. He keeps talking about Creepers being a key natural resource.
Or you could do what my 3rd grade teacher did and let a bunch of kids play with Legos.
they've made Starcraft mandatory learning.
I think we'll have fewer misanthropic troglodytes around if they did all get to play Quake. But more importantly, we understand the silliness of rage and appropriate handling of frustration. I.E. Fragging bots is quite a lot more temporary than human beings. It certainly was a huge stress relief to play Quake III Arena back in high school (this is during the second wave video game scare after Columbine).
If computers were people, I'd be a misanthrope.
lol
No, Quake was what I did at gymnasium.
That, Warcraft II, Command & Conquer, R.O.T.T.
Or well, guess that's right. 16-20 year old :D
Quake ftw.
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future. Better.
No doubt minecraft, the game, is interesting
But I still curious to know if there are other better software out there that can encourage students to think creatively.
Anyone that has any example, care to share?
Thanks !
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
Is the school paying for it? or are they just telling kids how to download it for free (local play only)
It also doesn't have cooperative multiplayer, it's a very limited environment that doesn't encourage creativity, it's four times more expensive than Minecraft, and it requires Origin DRM.
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future. Better.
... And Godzilla.
- Nec Impar Pluribus, or so I'm told.
I think this is wonderful. I'm very disheartened by the direction of the educational system in the United States. It seems that we have become a nation obsessed with standardized testing due to the No Child Left Behind Legislation (NCLB). At least at our school, all we care about is doing well on the state test because our school is graded and penalized based on the scores. It is very sad as art programs, Tech Ed, and project based learning is out the door because we have to drill and kill our kids so we can improve on the state test. It's not the teachers' or the administrators' fault. It's the laws that have been put in place by clueless Legislators. It's very sad that creativity has been trumped by root memorization, thoughtless learning!
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future. Better.
I don't think they're really on the same scale. In Simcity, you play the planner/mayor/whatever-high-up that determines macro issues. We should build houses here, power plants should be there. I don't care what you think, I'm God.
In Minecraft you play an individual. You determine what you use, where you build, how you build, all micro issues centered around yourself. You have no in-game control over your fellow players. You have to resort to actually negotiating and talking about things if you want to affect the macro situation.
I most definitely agree that Simcity could be used for teaching. However, depending on what it is you're actually trying to teach, I would not call it "better."
This will seem to work well, then kids will start getting addicted and have trouble doing things outside of Minecraft. Even worse if they find mods like Industrial Craft. I'm an adult and I have issues controlling how much time I spend on Minecraft, and kids probably have even less self control than I do.
What makes you think anyone is talking about the upcoming version? In terms of what the apparent lessons are supposed to teach could easily be taught using Sim City 2000, 3000, or 4. Why would you need cooperative multiplayer for this curricular? None of the actual goals seem to need it and the article doesn't even hint at Minecraft being played on a server.
There is no feedback from Minecraft regarding any of these topics, where as any Sim City will inform you of results caused by your (good/poor) planning, sims will complaint about environmental conditions and even get mad when you start chopping down woodlands, etc.
Minecraft can inspire creativity the same way Lego can, but for their narrowed down subject matter it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
You are obviously American. Swedes do not view "foreign" entities as scary or undeserving just because they're foreign. That would not be considered a negative here.
Doesn't seem to go well together.
But are they just playing it, or will they be building maps or what? If we're just promoting the next Oregon Trail for the newer generation, it'll largely be a waste of time.
I remember when our company hired a guy to create and maintain our second life presence. His cubicle was nicer than mine, but I still have a job.
It also isn't foreign since Notch is Swedish.
I honestly believe they could market SimCity as a destruction simulator, where you develop a town so that you can destroy it over and over again.
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future. Better.
The landfills in SimCity 4 would never go away. The power stations simply create too much pollution. People tend to build cities simply serve as landfill site and one massive power station.
Considering Notch is Swedish, and Mojang is based in Stockholm, it's a local game for this school.
Right, but if all the students learned was SimCity, how would that help prepare them for the coming zombie apocalypse?
And we all know, the best way to foster creativity is...
all Swedish software will be Minecraft compatible
KERNEL PANIC -SIGFAULT AT ADDRESS #51A54D07
cooperative multiplayer is in simcity 2000 network edition
When they're looking at buying their first house, they'll just buy an empty lot with a bunch of trees and then start punching them...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I don't remember selecting ANY subjects when I was thirteen. Every class was specified by the default curriculum.
Sort of like Loy Yang and the city of Traralgon, then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loy_Yang_Power_Station
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
"rote memorisation, Clara, not "root memorisation".
Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
...the creeper blew up my homework!
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
"rote memorisation, Clara, not "root memorisation".
Yes, root memorization: 1, 1.414, 1.732, 2, 2.236, 2.449, 2.646, 2.828, 3, 3.162. Consider why you need to be 21 years old to drink beer but 4 and 7 months to drink root beer.
Is the school paying for it? or are they just telling kids how to download it for free (local play only)
While I do not know the answer, the kids could of been required to pay for it. Well, the kids parents.
Be seeing you...
DF teaches you that the people need alcohol. ;)
I've never played either but the comments suggest that SimCity is for a model of autocratic rule without dissension and Minecraft (at least on a server) requires negotiation with other players. Opinion seems to be very polarized between the two, other than a couple of people who prefer Dwarf Fortress.
Hmm... can't quite put my finger on what that's making me think of...
What Simcity does better, Dwarf Fortress does even better.
Irony is promoting the game most in need of a tutorial mode as a teaching tool
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Is the school paying for it? or are they just telling kids how to download it for free (local play only)
What?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
If you want to teach the children to build 3d objects
Not the goal. Post is moot. And they're 13. Some kids that age might actually be able to get into Blender, most of them won't.
If sparking interest in computers and digital arts is the reason they chose MC
Not the goal.
They may not directly stimulate the creative side of the brain
But that's the goal. Try at least reading the summary if you insist on avoiding the actual article.
Only if they forgot to turn off the browser plugins, afaik.
"we are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
And most importantly: blowing up stuff (only to keep the economy alive of course). And GET THE POD.
"we are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further."
Wanker.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
So a simcity-type FPS?
???
Profit!!
Defining Statistics and Social Research
13-year-olds aren't going to understand the code, and neither are their teachers. If you want to read the code, feel free to buy a developer's license for it as all the mod developers have done.
Not if we never give them a chance and assume they're too young to get into coding, anyways.
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
I always hated wood working class, they always seemed to need a massive amount of funding for what could be done by hand. In one case the computer networking course and computer eng course ( at highschool ) got shutdown due to lack of funds, kicker is the wood working course got all new wood working machines. Another course I never understood was Art, they always poured money into the Art program but frankly I never saw it go anywhere. Now we have a story about another computer course opening up and I hope this time that they decide to fund it instead of the courses where you don't even need the funding.
And if building, planning, etc. in a voxel sandbox game is the way to go, why not go with a free (as in beer and as in freedom) alternative like Minetest?
(and yes, I contribute to that project)
make that http://minetest.net.. stupid slashdot pointed the link wrong.
13-year-olds aren't going to understand the code, and neither are their teachers. If you want to read the code, feel free to buy a developer's license for it as all the mod developers have done.
Not if we never give them a chance and assume they're too young to get into coding, anyways.
This is a general, compulsory subject. Whatever people on slashdot like to think, not every child is going to be interested in coding. I'm all in favour of encouraging kids to learn programming, but making it compulsory is not going to work.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I have a little brother that is that age, and LOVES MineCraft. I guess we can pass it off as educational now.
Code, eat, sleep, repeat.
While those are nice things, I think Minecraft does cooperation and infrastructure development better. For example, I can divide my games into three phases. In the first phase, I gather enough resources to survive (basically you need a secure, well lit (light keeps the monsters from spawning) shelter that you can find again, once you die). In the second phase, I construct "farms" for making various things. This is the initial stage of the infrastructure building that one can do. In the third stage, it's ego-driven pyramid building.
I'm not particularly experienced or diligent a player, but I was able to make with a few hours of effort an underground tree farm which in my version of the game is both a great, renewable source of monster-free wood (which in turn can be turned into a principle component of tools, some building structures, a fuel source, and a permanent light source) and a minor food source (I occasionally get apples) as well.
This is classic engineering. Develop a system that saves you work in the long run. In theory, you can do it all by yourself.
But cooperation really expands what you can do. For example, I played for a time with a second player. He was a real builder. So I'd gather resources for him while he built hovering glass buildings.
One of the time killers is simply the effort it takes to travel. With more people playing, you're more likely to have someone in or near a place with resources you need. Similarly, you're more likely to be in a place where you can help someone else.
So I might say to him, "I'm in the HQ. You need anything?" Sometimes he might need something like a pile of glass blocks. Or he might need me to do a short task there (say, reload the furnaces with more sand and charcoal so we can make more glass blocks). These might take him several minutes to get, if he were to go there on his own. But since I'm doing it anyway, I can save him some time. Instead of having to do that, he got more time for building.
We'd also try things and bounce ideas off of each other. There was a vast amount of stuff to try and do. And that's a particular strength of the game environment. It is open-ended to a degree that is nearly unheard of in a game.
Why would you need cooperative multiplayer for this curricular? None of the actual goals seem to need it and the article doesn't even hint at Minecraft being played on a server.
The summary mentioned "city planning". For the intent of what they probably want to teach students, it seems likely that they'll do something similar to what I did in the Art Institute, where coordinating with an entire class to make a small town. While this seems very simple, you learn a lot when coordinating the style of buildings, ensuring you have a roadwork that everyone can work with (and fit their buildings with), and so forth.
There is no feedback from Minecraft regarding any of these topics, where as any Sim City will inform you of results caused by your (good/poor) planning, sims will complaint about environmental conditions and even get mad when you start chopping down woodlands, etc.
There's no direct feedback, in many cases, but again, I think the focus in this case is more about interpersonal relationships. Such as, if you knock down all the trees in the area for wood and don't replant, other people will get pissed off at you for making their life harder (or at least view more ugly). Similar for people playing with fire too much; imagine what happens when someone's fireplace isn't properly insulated, and they burn down an entire city block.
There's surprisingly large value in seeing how doing your grunt work affects others, and coordinating to achieve the best result. That's something that Sim City can't achieve, and the emergent aspects for things like resource acquisition make it better suited than Lego.
I remember playing SimCity in high school geography class. I guess you have to move with the times and play a more modern game to learn about the more modern world.
Is 1563649 a prime number?
I honestly believe they could market SimCity as a destruction simulator, where you develop a town so that you can destroy it over and over again.
Obviously you are way too young to remember:
Crush, Crumble & Chomp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush,_Crumble_and_Chomp!
Now, get off my lawn. You are blocking my light!
Students, your first MineCraft assignment is to build a cat fountain.
Lincity even more (except for getting things done)
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Not every child is going to be interested in reading, science, sports, history, or math either, but those are compulsory and introduce those subjects to children who may not otherwise receive exposure. I think at least a little bit of programming introduces problem-solving in a way that's more immediate and tangible than math.
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
Are you sure about that? I seem to recall that garbage would, eventually, disappear from a landfill. If anything, it seems that SC4 actually modelled that rather accurately in that trash in a landfill takes a long time to biodegrade. If you never stop using a landfill then it will never begin to clear up. Of course, the problem is that there is no way to control garbage dispersal/destination in SC4 at a fine enough level. The only way you might notice a landfill shrinking would be to export all of your garbage.
Elrond, Duke of URL
"This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"-Sam&Max