Raspberry Pi & Minecraft Education environment query

[iseetech]

Looking for some support in designing a solution for a school; they're looking to get ~30 Pi's with Minecraft and Python, locked away in the server room to prevent damage, with students remoting into them via VNC to built and test code in game.

 

This doesn't feel like a practical solution to me, which is why I have suggested getting something like the Pi-Top instead; but the school aren't keen on paying out so much for a device that the students might (and probably will) break. My initial thought was a multi user terminal idea on a dedicated server, but obviously that has cost implications and would require the purchase of Minecraft licensing too. I know Minecraft CAN be run via RealVNC after some tweaking, but is it workable in a classroom environment? Not to mention that students will need to save their code, ideally to their Google drives- which adds another layer of complexity.

 

Have any of you come across this before and how would you suggest going forward?

[christhetech]

Rather than locking them in the server room, would they not just consider casing them.There are plenty of inexpensive cases around for Pi, and it also gets the students used to working on them too, rather than remoting in. It doesn't have to be Pi-Top, as they are relatively expensive, just a very simple case would do the trick.

[iseetech]

Very much what I've suggested if they're going to go down that route but it's not really about it being a Pi, more about the free minecraft and python integration aspect.

 

The ICT lead's idea is to have 30 Pis in the server room on USB hubs and attached to wireless. Students would then VNC in from laptops to code and run minecraft.

 

I've said that at the very least they'd need to cable in the Pis, which will require another switch as getting wireless to work for 30 devices in a server room is pretty slim. This has its own cost obviously as it's a pretty complex school with multiple VLANs.

 

Still feels like a very inefficient way of doing things, so I'm looking at alternatives to try and get them to go a different route...

[PotNoodleTech]

Good thread. I've been struggling to get the pi working through our proxy server so have not even got close to getting minecraft up and running. Hope some peeps can make more good suggestions in this thread!!!

 

Thanks

[christhetech]

Very much what I've suggested if they're going to go down that route but it's not really about it being a Pi, more about the free minecraft and python integration aspect.

 

The ICT lead's idea is to have 30 Pis in the server room on USB hubs and attached to wireless. Students would then VNC in from laptops to code and run minecraft.

 

I've said that at the very least they'd need to cable in the Pis, which will require another switch as getting wireless to work for 30 devices in a server room is pretty slim. This has its own cost obviously as it's a pretty complex school with multiple VLANs.

 

Still feels like a very inefficient way of doing things, so I'm looking at alternatives to try and get them to go a different route...

 

Well if they aren't too bothered about the Single Board element and just want to run Minecraft and Python, why not just side load Raspbian or Noobs onto your existing Windows devices. That would save the hassle of setting up Pi's wirelessly, which would be a pig of a job to get them all working properly in a server room.

You can download a test version of Noobs, which works like an emulator on a Windows device. That would have the desired effect, with the added bonus that the students could save all of their work to Google docs directly from their existing Windows desktop.

[iseetech]

That could work... I'll look into that; thanks!

[PotNoodleTech]

Well if they aren't too bothered about the Single Board element and just want to run Minecraft and Python, why not just side load Raspbian or Noobs onto your existing Windows devices. That would save the hassle of setting up Pi's wirelessly, which would be a pig of a job to get them all working properly in a server room.

You can download a test version of Noobs, which works like an emulator on a Windows device. That would have the desired effect, with the added bonus that the students could save all of their work to Google docs directly from their existing Windows desktop.

 

Yes that sounds good! So no need for buying lots of PIs then?

[christhetech]

Yes that sounds good! So no need for buying lots of PIs then?

 

Part of the fun of the Raspberry Pi, and Micro:Bit, Arduino and other single boards, is the students building them for themselves and understanding how they fit together and the basic concept of simple computing. They are also really useful for electronic experiments and robotics etc. However, if all the school are focussed on is teaching Python and Minecraft, then there really is no need to be buying a ton of Raspberry PIs, as the software is essentially just a slightly cut down form of Linux.

 

There are some fantastic projects for single board computing if you have the budget to accommodate. For instance, Pi-Talk is briiliant although you would be looking at around £100 per head to do it as a full classroom project, so unless you were absolutely swimming in excess budget, it's not really a practical option unless the school can get the parents to contribute somehow.

[PotNoodleTech]

Part of the fun of the Raspberry Pi, and Micro:Bit, Arduino and other single boards, is the students building them for themselves and understanding how they fit together and the basic concept of simple computing. They are also really useful for electronic experiments and robotics etc. However, if all the school are focussed on is teaching Python and Minecraft, then there really is no need to be buying a ton of Raspberry PIs, as the software is essentially just a slightly cut down form of Linux.

 

There are some fantastic projects for single board computing if you have the budget to accommodate. For instance, Pi-Talk is briiliant although you would be looking at around £100 per head to do it as a full classroom project, so unless you were absolutely swimming in excess budget, it's not really a practical option unless the school can get the parents to contribute somehow.

 

Thanks Chris. Yes minecraft and python is the priority really - and I can't get the Pi's to behave with our LEA proxyfiltering so sideloading on windows could be the only option (as long as I can get proxy etc working on noobs)

[Jawloms]

Thanks Chris. Yes minecraft and python is the priority really - and I can't get the Pi's to behave with our LEA proxyfiltering so sideloading on windows could be the only option (as long as I can get proxy etc working on noobs)

 

What PROXY troubles are you having?

[PotNoodleTech]

What PROXY troubles are you having?

 

Basically can't get the pi to communicate thro our proxy server. Tried editing a couple of text files but it didn't work.

 

If you have any idea that would be most appreciated!!!