Minecraft Edu

[localzuk]

So, as Notch retweeted something about this, I thought I'd mention it on here - schools can now buy Minecraft and a mod which helps in education for a much reduced rate. A 25 pack costs €249 + €30 for the mod. So, its about half price.

 

MinecraftEdu

[speckytecky]

Thanks mate - just what my school has been looking for. TY button missing so rep given instead.

[Achandler]

I've looked at the Minecraft site and maybe I just don't get it but how is this educational like they claim?

 

I looks like someone making a world out of Duplo (that nis the giant Lego for babys), and has the graphics of a 1992 game.

 

We have kids who play it, I don't really understand what they enjoy about it and when you ask them they don't seem to know. If there was a good reason (probably education based) then I would try and pursuade the school to buy it for an IT suite. So any ideas?

Edited February 6, 2012 by Achandler
Typos

[Quatermass]

I've looked at the Minecraft site and maybe I just don't get it but how is this educational like they claim?

 

I looks like someone making a world out of Duplo (that nis the giant Lego for babys), and has the graphics of a 1992 game.

 

We have kids who play it, I don't really understand what they enjoy about it and when you ask them they don't seem to know. If there was a good reason (probably education based) then I would try and pursuade the school to buy it for an IT suite. So any ideas?

Educational might be debatable, but enjoyable? Try it yourself!

[X-13]

We have kids who play it, I don't really understand what they enjoy about it and when you ask them they don't seem to know. If there was a good reason (probably education based) then I would try and pursuade the school to buy it for an IT suite. So any ideas?

 

^ Pretty much this.

 

Just buy a load of legos.

[localzuk]

I've looked at the Minecraft site and maybe I just don't get it but how is this educational like they claim?

 

I looks like someone making a world out of Duplo (that nis the giant Lego for babys), and has the graphics of a 1992 game.

 

We have kids who play it, I don't really understand what they enjoy about it and when you ask them they don't seem to know. If there was a good reason (probably education based) then I would try and pursuade the school to buy it for an IT suite. So any ideas?

 

It is a sandbox environment, with basic electrical systems that can be built, including logic gates. With mods, that can be expanded greatly. The point with it is, it is only limited in what can be done in it by what you as a player can think of.

 

The edu mod on the site I linked has geography tools to show off things like desertification and tropification.

 

It can be used as a CG environment for students to create videos, which can be used in many subjects, as their 'sets' can be huge. Think about it like this, pupils could craft their sets in MC, then do stop frame animation interacting with the characters in game. Loads of value to that. Teaches them about some of the more advanced aspects of film making, CGI, chroma-key, etc...

 

There are loads of possibilities.

[X-13]

It is a sandbox environment, with basic electrical systems that can be built, including logic gates. With mods, that can be expanded greatly. The point with it is, it is only limited in what can be done in it by what you as a player can think of.

 

The edu mod on the site I linked has geography tools to show off things like desertification and tropification.

 

It can be used as a CG environment for students to create videos, which can be used in many subjects, as their 'sets' can be huge. Think about it like this, pupils could craft their sets in MC, then do stop frame animation interacting with the characters in game. Loads of value to that. Teaches them about some of the more advanced aspects of film making, CGI, chroma-key, etc...

 

There are loads of possibilities.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12941[/ATTACH]

 

That sound pretty awesome actually.

[CAM]

Do you know if this connects to the Minecraft main servers? Would be interesting to know if you have to authenticate with it and thus let normal Minecraft traffic through (bear in mind it can be run on a USB stick).

[Achandler]

Having read the site, it implies you runt he server that they connect to.

[localzuk]

Do you know if this connects to the Minecraft main servers? Would be interesting to know if you have to authenticate with it and thus let normal Minecraft traffic through (bear in mind it can be run on a USB stick).

 

Yes, it still uses the main minecraft login servers for logging in. However, the multiplayer server would be internal.

 

A decent filtering system should be able to do time and location based filtering though - so any potential issues could be mitigated there.

[EHS-James]

Yes, it still uses the main minecraft login servers for logging in. However, the multiplayer server would be internal.

 

A decent filtering system should be able to do time and location based filtering though - so any potential issues could be mitigated there.

 

I recently contacted them regarding this and their answer was as follows:

 

Hi James,

 

Yes. We do have a solution for you.

 

With MinecraftEdu you don't have to handle any account info. You just get licenses for more "wider" use, but within a classroom MinecraftEdu works without any authentications and students can put their own nickname and skin on and head to the server hosted in LAN or somewhere else (also single player)

 

The classroom use is made very simple and "network security and installation prohibitions evading".

 

Reason being our provider is over zealous and won't unblock on their end, so no matter our config anything (frivolous) that wont authenticate to the proxy (such as MC) gets blocked. Previously we had to use one of the modded clients, can't wait to upgrade to this both for my games club and possible educational use (not a teacher so can only suggest they use it hehe)

[localzuk]

I recently contacted them regarding this and their answer was as follows:

 

Reason being our provider is over zealous and won't unblock on their end, so no matter our config anything (frivolous) that wont authenticate to the proxy (such as MC) gets blocked. Previously we had to use one of the modded clients, can't wait to upgrade to this both for my games club and possible educational use (not a teacher so can only suggest they use it hehe)

 

I'd like to see this working before I believed it - as the client is still the normal Minecraft exe, just with their mod installed, and I've not heard of Mojang allowing a bypass of the login security for anyone other than this.

[EHS-James]

Not sure, I thought they were one of the few people given outright access to the source. I was under the impression it's a mod but not in a drag-into-the-jar variety. Don't count on that as 100% authoritative however. Either way intercepting the login packet from within the client is childsplay, hence the ease of piracy related to MC and why so many extra authentication plugins exist for Bukkit. Haha I'm excited to not have to do that anymore. Especially when 90% of the gameclub actually own an account.

[Rawns]

^ Pretty much this.

 

Just buy a load of legos.

 

 

Minecraft Legoz...

 

 

In December of 2011, Mojang submitted the concept of Minecraft merchandise to Lego for the LEGO Cuusoo program, from which it quickly received 10,000 votes by users, prompting Lego to review the concept.[37] On January 24, 2012, LEGO Cuusoo announced the concept was approved and they would develop sets based around Minecraft.[37]

 

Minecraft™ LEGO CUUSOO Project Passes LEGO Review

 

2012/01/24

 

Happy New Year! Since the Minecraft™ project reached 10,000 supporters on LEGO CUUSOO, many of you have been eagerly awaiting our update. Until now, the project has been in the LEGO Review—a stage before product development begins where a LEGO Jury evaluates the idea’s feasibility as a product and makes a decision.

 

We're happy to announce that the Minecraft project on LEGO CUUSOO has passed the LEGO review and we are now developing a concept that celebrates the best aspects of building with the LEGO system and in Minecraft and we can’t wait to show it to you—but we aren’t ready just yet. These things take time, so we appreciate your patience. More details are to come.

 

The LEGO CUUSOO Team

http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/4038

 

Edited February 6, 2012 by Rawns

[X-13]

Minecraft Legoz...

 

LEGO® CUUSOO | LEGO Minecraft

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]12958[/ATTACH]

 

Minecraft lego is a redundant statement.

 

Minecraft is virtual lego.

 

It's just a set of regular lego in different colours.