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| The University in Minecraft form |
Over the course of two weeks, his class had extensively recreated the university, even filling chests with books within the library. The students even went as far as to create a dungeon beneath the school holding a nether portal, which they "affectionately" labelled "The effects of video game violence".
Tropical Cyclone Oswald flooded the campus earlier last week, so Professor Brand asked the class to join him in the Minecraft server for their Tuesday lesson. With a combination of Minecraft, Slide shows and Instant Messengers, Brand took the class through their course as usual. Brand handed out Experience points to the class for correct answers, some students making it as far as level 26 before the lesson was over, the students setting off fireworks as they left.
The idea to recreate the class in Minecraft was inspired by Mojang's newest project "Block by Block". Back in September 2012, Block by Block was developed in collaboration with UN Habitat as a tool to educate children on their environment and community. "Block by Block aims to involve youth in the planning process in urban areas by giving them the opportunity to show planners and decision makers how they would like to see their cities in the future." was the official statement via Mojangs site.
The story is an exceptional double win, bringing gaming into the spotlight for positive reasons (which is a nice change) showing its uses within the education system, as well as showing the creativeness, ambition and flexibility of Australian Universities. Even if some of the students did walk around wielding TNT...
- Welsh 01/02/13
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