Swedish School Makes Minecraft Lessons Compulsory 162
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."
Next up (Score:0)
..Quake.
Re:Next up (Score:2)
Re:Next up (Score:1)
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.
Environment a la minecraft (Score:5, Funny)
My son must have somehow gone to that school without telling me. He keeps talking about Creepers being a key natural resource.
Re:Environment a la minecraft (Score:3)
Ghasts also.
Legos (Score:5, Interesting)
Or you could do what my 3rd grade teacher did and let a bunch of kids play with Legos.
Re:Legos (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Legos (Score:4, Insightful)
Get over yourself.
Re:Legos (Score:1)
Someone give him some Legos.
Re:Legos (Score:1)
<pedantry> LEGO. Or LEGO bricks. Not Legos. Ever. </pedantry>
I'm guessing I'm the only person who compromises between the two: I pluralize it as LEGOs -- all-caps LEGO with a small 's'.
Re:Legos (Score:2)
Re:Legos (Score:4, Informative)
The issue isn't around choosing a brand rather than generic "building blocks". The issue is that the plural of "Lego" is "Lego".
"LegOS" is an operating system for Lego Mindstorms.
May as well ask why you keep getting corrected when you insist on talking about multiple sheeps, gooses, or datas.
Re:Legos (Score:2)
Or you could do what my 3rd grade teacher did and let a bunch of kids play with Legos.
... or you could let them play minecraft, as justification for the huge capital investment in computers. I mean, there HAS to be a reason we spent all that money on computer labs.
Also, ewww. Do you know what kids do with legos?
Re:Legos (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah... they strategically place them throughout the house hidden out of plain site so they can be stepped on in the middle of the night while barefoot.
THAT's what they do with Legos!
Re:Legos (Score:2)
You just gave me a great idea for a product, Camo LEGO. have them colored, painted to look like carpet, hardwood floors, tile's. then they could also be strategically placed in plain sight for the amusement of children.
But while i see the market as huge, i see the cost being a problem, as LEGO are so expensive that only the adults can afford to buy them and what right minded adult would by that for their kids to use against them?
But then again, given the path of society and the very scary nature of a lot of parents now days. it might be a viable product.
Re:Legos (Score:2)
Legos let you do one thing well, build a lot of things.
Computers let you do a lot of things well.
And a decent batch of Lego costs more than computers. Which makes me think maybe they really are overpriced after all. Whatever the market will bear, I guess.
Re:Legos (Score:2)
But Lego is Danish, Minecraft is Swedish, guess who they are going to support?
Re:Legos (Score:2)
Koreans have done one better (Score:5, Funny)
they've made Starcraft mandatory learning.
Re:Koreans have done one better (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Koreans have done one better (Score:1)
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, (Score:5, Insightful)
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future. Better.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2, Informative)
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.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:3)
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.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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.
cooperative multiplayer is in simcity 2000 network (Score:4, Interesting)
cooperative multiplayer is in simcity 2000 network edition
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:5, Informative)
Simcity does city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future. Better.
... And Godzilla.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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 [wikipedia.org]!
Now, get off my lawn. You are blocking my light!
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:5, Insightful)
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."
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:1)
So a simcity-type FPS?
???
Profit!!
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
Sort of like Loy Yang and the city of Traralgon, then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loy_Yang_Power_Station [wikipedia.org]
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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...
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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.
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:1)
Lincity even more (except for getting things done)
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:3)
DF teaches you that the people need alcohol. ;)
Re:Simcity does city planning, environmental issue (Score:2)
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
Is the school paying for it? or are they just tell (Score:2)
Is the school paying for it? or are they just telling kids how to download it for free (local play only)
Re:Is the school paying for it? or are they just t (Score:2)
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.
Re:Is the school paying for it? or are they just t (Score:2)
Is the school paying for it? or are they just telling kids how to download it for free (local play only)
What? [worldofminecraft.com]
As a teacher, (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:As a teacher, (Score:1)
Re:As a teacher, (Score:3)
Re:As a teacher, (Score:2)
As a student, (Score:2)
"rote memorisation, Clara, not "root memorisation".
Re:As a student, (Score:2)
Re:As a student, (Score:2)
Re:As a student, (Score:2)
Re:As a student, (Score:2)
Root memorization (Score:2)
"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.
Re:As a teacher, (Score:1)
Re:As a teacher, (Score:2)
Re:As a teacher, (Score:1)
My parents were both teachers for ~30 years at the high school level here in Illinois.. and then my mother went on to be an educational consultant and inservice provider for another 10 years after retiring from active teaching. As such, I grew up looking at both sides of the educational system more than the average person..
This problem you describe is not new. It's not even something that arose with the poorly named "No Child Left Behind" legislation. I remember Illinois started a program of heavier standardized testing during the early 1990's.. the IGAP tests.. 1993 or 1994 was when I first ran into one in high school.
The teachers at the time were stressed out and annoyed by that.. the tests themselves were abysmal.. I basically "failed" the IGAP "reading comprehension" portion despite getting a 35 out of a possible 36 at the time on the ACT. The next year, one of the better teachers was actually fired in a "scandal" because they released the test early to students to study with. I witnessed many teachers changing their curriculum content to teach directly to these idiotic tests.
Decentralized education, as you mention, can *possibloy* have some benefits.. limited experimentation, etc.. But what I've seen in practice is that it doesn't. What I have seen in practice is some of the most nonsensical bs ever to be invoked in the name of "education."
I speak of the "School Board" system. Whoever thought it was a good idea to have a neighborhood popularity contest between a bunch of disinterested status-seekers with no training or experience in education, and then award the winners collectively with pretty much full administrative control over school operations and curriculum... clearly lived in a different era and/or had mental health issues.
I remember school boards comprised of old religious wingnuts, football obsessed yuppies, and "sky is falling, protect the children" soccer moms. What I do not remember is a single member of the body responsible for education policy having any member upon it actually trained in *education*. As such, the "needs of the community" being represented were "regressive religious indoctrination attempts" and "getting a winning football team" and "don't teach anything remotely controversial"..
Which pretty much results in a completely bullsh*t education. It wasn't just my own school. Every single one I've run into in the surrounding 3 states was similarly disposed.
You can see similar idiocy on a nationwide scale after the Columbine tragedy.. where thousands of school administrators banned the wearing of trench coats in highschools. No rational mind can accept the proposition that trench coats cause violence.. simply because Wall Street is not a daily bloodbath. But it is this kind of knee-jerk, non-thinking decision making which arises from a focus on "the needs of the community", when non-educators make up the "community" representation and have executive authority over the school systems.
Further, the way schools are funded here.. by property taxes.. pretty much guarantees that poor areas desperately in need of resources and better educational opportunities will alreays remain poor and in desperate need, while the rich communities will put in their second olympic sized swimming pool on campus and have Mariott cater their lunchrooms.
During the 30+ years I've been observing things around here.. the "best and brightest" have never thought about becoming teachers.. or if they did, they taught for a year or two, became familiarized with the realities of the job, and left to pursue careers where they weren't abused constantly and could actually reap some rewards.
I'm frankly in favor of centralized education. I'm not, however, in favor of standardized testing or rigid frameworks dependant upon it. However, if one is going to centralize control over education.. it needs to be at a curriculum level, and it needs to be accompanied by centralized *funding*. It's not something that can be slapped in place overnight by an act of Congress.. but it is something that needs to be intelligently evolved over time by a concerted act of national will to improve conditions in our schools.
Re:As a teacher, (Score:1)
Any teacher will tell you... If you make standardized test they will teach to that.
Any IT pro will tell you... If you reward firefighters you breed arsonists.
Re:As a teacher, (Score:2)
Addiction (Score:1)
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.
Compulsory Creativity? (Score:3)
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 second life (Score:1)
Re:I remember second life (Score:1)
You may still have a job, but how's your second life?
The best way to foster creativity (Score:3)
And we all know, the best way to foster creativity is...
Re:The best way to foster creativity (Score:2)
"That's very done."
-- The Ant (The Once and Future King)
"Everything that is not mandatory is forbidden. Everything that is not forbidden is mandatory."
A lovely character study, full of wince-able observations and contrasts on the human condition from the point of view of young Arthur. ;)
It's from a book
In 10 years time (Score:2)
In 20 Years... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:In 20 Years... (Score:2)
Compulsory? (Score:1)
I don't remember selecting ANY subjects when I was thirteen. Every class was specified by the default curriculum.
The dog didn't eat my homework... (Score:4, Funny)
Your right (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:1)
Cat Fountain Time (Score:1)
Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:4, Insightful)
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 !
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:3)
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 !
Dwarf Fortress. Dozens (hundreds if you live long enough) of individual citizens that may or may not listen to you ("nope, sorry, I know we're under attack and I'm your only ballista operator, but I feel a fey mood coming on"). Minecraft is much more accessible though.
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:2)
You need to be at least slightly asperger to play Dwarf Fortress.
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:2, Funny)
(But also sometimes on the third Thursday of the month, since that is Anything Can Happen Thursday in order to keep some variety.)
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:1)
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:2)
Yoda, is that you?
Re:MINETEST (Score:1)
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.
Re:MINETEST (Score:2, Insightful)
It also isn't foreign since Notch is Swedish.
Re:MINETEST (Score:3)
Re:MINETEST (Score:2)
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.
Re:MINETEST (Score:2)
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.
Re:MINETEST (Score:2)
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:2)
The Cube engine also has voxel based cooperative map editing, but out of the box it's just an FPS, it doesn't have the complexity of Minecraft.
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:3)
I've actually shown KSP to some of the teachers in my schools (my job is to help teachers integrate tech). They like it, but the big problem is time. There is so much pressure to teach to the test that they worry about the ability to integrate something fun and engaging. Sigh.
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:2)
I don't think you'll find any similar games that were also created within Sweden, which was a large part of this decision.
Is minecraft the only software? BLENDER (Score:1)
If you want to teach the children to build 3d objects in front of a computer then why not just teach blender?
The results are better, the interface is much better, it's an actual skill that can get you a job in the future, you get all the basics to to 3d modeling that can be transfered to other software suits(MAYA in particular), it's free, and you can even learn some programing if you start messing with the game engine. If computer power is the problem, I can say that if their computers can run MC at 30fps, then blender will run as smooth as a hot knife in butter.
Personally I never understood why world creation games are so popular, when you can have a much better experience using a artistic software suit. I personally tried all these games: Minecraft, Terraria, Dwarf fortress you name it. If there was at least real challenge, depth and interesting rewards, just like a real game, I would understand. DF is the only one that has SOME of those atributes but Minecraft/Terraria just fells like pure work and boredom. If sparking interest in computers and digital arts is the reason they chose MC, I have a list of much better games such as Deus EX or Xenogears(amongst a few others, that yet to be released Cyberpunk2077 game looks good too). They may not directly stimulate the creative side of the brain but their storyline/settings/lore are awe-inspiring(they played a huge role in my later childhood and had a directly influence in determining who I am now).
Re:Is minecraft the only software? BLENDER (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:1)
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:2)
Re:Is minecraft the only software they can find? (Score:2)
Re:Minecraft in schools... (Score:1)
Re:EVE Online should be mandatory (Score:1)
Re:Socialist indoctrination (Score:3)
Re:Why Minecraft? (Score:2)
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 [slashdot.org]?
(and yes, I contribute to that project)
Re:Why Minecraft? (Score:2)
make that http://minetest.net [minetest.net].. stupid slashdot pointed the link wrong.