Minecraft As A Mandatory Subject In School? Sweet!
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Sweden has to be one of the coolest places for a kid to grow up in - First, they introduced the concept of schools with no grades or classrooms, then came Monstrum's amazing playgrounds and now, the coolest idea of all - 'Forcing' 13-year-olds to play Minecraft as part of the classroom curriculum.
The seed for this rather radical idea was planted when the government of Sweden organized a national school competition called 'Future City' for which classrooms were asked to submit their ideas about the kind of structures they envisioned in the Sweden of the future.
It was such a success that educators at Stockholm’s Viktor Rydberg school decided to continue this 'out of the box' thinking by incorporating Minecraft into the class curriculum for 13-year-students.
According to the teachers, the game which challenges kids to use their imagination by building virtual worlds complete with electricity grids, water supply pumps and anything else they would like to see in their future, allows students to think beyond the classroom frontiers. This they believe will help them make better decisions as adults, especially about things like the environmental impact of their actions. And while it may sound radical to most people they liken it to teaching a woodcraft class - except in this case, all the construction is being conducted in a virtual world.
So far, 180, 13-year girls and boys, have participated in this mandatory unit, which not surprisingly has been such a huge hit that the school is planning to make it a permanent addition to their curriculum. It of course augments, not replaces, core subjects like math and science. The educators say that even parents who were a little apprehensive about their kids playing video games at school, are now on board and fully support this decision.
We wonder if any school in the US would even consider such a drastic curriculum addition - And how parents would react. What do you think? Be sure to let us know, by adding your comments below.
Resources: The local.se, gizmag.com
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13802 Comments
- larissaabout 13 yearswe should have minecraft
- ROGER HAGAabout 13 yearsminecraft is very educational it teaches you math,spelling,and other cool things
- kadinabout 13 yearsminecraft sod be a game and teachers please let minecraft on ower ipad befor the end of the year please let minecraft be on ower ipads please teachers please ow please i want it on ower i pads and play on it if mrs baily will let us get it on ower ipads it will be fun and get it on the ipads and the game will be fun to play on the ipads on the ipads it will be cool to have minecraft it sod be an app on the ipads
- Kyler Stroubleabout 13 yearsMinecraft should be on the ipads because it teaches geometric figures.
- Savannahabout 13 yearsMinecraft should be on the ipads becuase it involves learning and it sounds really cool.
- Court Wallinabout 13 yearsMinecraft should be a subject, because it gives creation.
- ROGER HAGAabout 13 yearsMinecraft teaches you math and how to survive so mrs.steele please make minecraft an app on our ipad
- Anthony T 5Babout 13 yearsMine craft is educational is because it is math with shapes and you have to now how Much of thing you need to make stuff in your world and u have to have the right size of thing that is math and it helps you now how to put stuff together
- Joshua Haneyabout 13 yearsmine craft should be put into the ipads because it teaches you volume and spelling and alot of other stuff and it's cool
- trentonpabout 13 yearswe should have minecraft because it has shapes sizes volumes spelling different materials and teaches you what materials are strong or weak