Minetest Could Be An Educational Tool

[Don]

Minetest can definitely be used for education, but unfortunately, not in schools. If you've ever been to a school, you should know why.

-Teachers don't know how to use computers
-Teachers won't think it's educational
-Most teachers don't like to have fun things in class
-etc.

The educational version of Minecraft has been used in VERY FEW schools, and I've never actually seen it being used ever at all.

School just really sucks. We shouldn't be trying to make school more fun, we should be focused on eliminating it completely.

My daughter is in grade 6. They use minetest for education.

[Wuzzy]

Don: Can you explain how exactly they are using Minetest in school? What is teached, what are they doing with Minetest, etc. It would be interesting to know.

[12Me21]

Minetest can definitely be used for education, but unfortunately, not in schools. If you've ever been to a school, you should know why.

-Teachers don't know how to use computers
-Teachers won't think it's educational
-Most teachers don't like to have fun things in class
-etc.

The educational version of Minecraft has been used in VERY FEW schools, and I've never actually seen it being used ever at all.

School just really sucks. We shouldn't be trying to make school more fun, we should be focused on eliminating it completely.

My daughter is in grade 6. They use minetest for education.

Where do you live?!?!?!

[twoelk]

...
School just really sucks. We shouldn't be trying to make school more fun, we should be focused on eliminating it completely.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
sometimes I wonder just how lucky I was that all the five different schools, one in Europe and four in Asia, that I visited where all more fun than not. Or maybe - I don't know - but just maybe - shudder - is it simply a state of mind - of - ghast - the pupil, that is convinced he is not allowed by convention to have any fun at school. - I don't know - maybe I was raised on another planet .................

[Don]

Minetest can definitely be used for education, but unfortunately, not in schools. If you've ever been to a school, you should know why.

-Teachers don't know how to use computers
-Teachers won't think it's educational
-Most teachers don't like to have fun things in class
-etc.

The educational version of Minecraft has been used in VERY FEW schools, and I've never actually seen it being used ever at all.

School just really sucks. We shouldn't be trying to make school more fun, we should be focused on eliminating it completely.

My daughter is in grade 6. They use minetest for education.

Where do you live?!?!?!

I live in Canada

[12Me21]

...
School just really sucks. We shouldn't be trying to make school more fun, we should be focused on eliminating it completely.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
sometimes I wonder just how lucky I was that all the five different schools, one in Europe and four in Asia, that I visited where all more fun than not. Or maybe - I don't know - but just maybe - shudder - is it simply a state of mind - of - ghast - the pupil, that is convinced he is not allowed by convention to have any fun at school. - I don't know - maybe I was raised on another planet .................

I've been to 7 schools in the U.S., and some of them were ok, but in higher grades, school generally gets less fun. You get more homework, harder assignments, and less fun projects. We don't even get recess anymore! (and they wonder why kids are less active...)

It's as if they think we don't like to have fun anymore, and for some people, this is actually true. They get more "mature" (but in a really bad way). Some of the kids at my school act like they're too old to have fun, and it's so stupid.

But it isn't just about fun. I just want to learn stuff that I'm actually going to use, like math, and not crap that I don't need to know. (seriously, the only thing I learned recently (middle/high school) that I actually use is some math stuff.)

Schools in the U.S. haven't changed much since the 18th century.

Also, my school starts so F***ing early in the morning...

[apienk]

Minetest can definitely be used for education, but unfortunately, not in schools. If you've ever been to a school, you should know why.

-Teachers don't know how to use computers
-Teachers won't think it's educational
-Most teachers don't like to have fun things in class
-etc.

Yes, this is a real problem. But they begin to realize that they will have to change their methods, or quit, because computers and the internet have become a necessity in all jobs. The school has to embrace technology in order to prepare students for the challenges that await them. If you're interested, please consider reading Disrupting Class, The One World Schoolhouse, and Digital Dementia.

The educational version of Minecraft has been used in VERY FEW schools, and I've never actually seen it being used ever at all.

It is changing.

School just really sucks. We shouldn't be trying to make school more fun, we should be focused on eliminating it completely.

What's the alternative?

[Jordach]

What's the alternative?

Making school focus on life skills such as money management, cooking, survival, etc. Not algebra which has no impact on life at all.

[12Me21]

What's the alternative?

Making school focus on life skills such as money management, cooking, survival, etc. Not algebra which has no impact on life at all.

I agree, except algebra is pretty useful, just kind of boring to learn. Geometry is much more fun and useful though

[philipbenr]

To be Offtopic:

The best alt for school would be to collect all the videos you know on teaching (Khan Academy, Random Youtube teachers, etc), and make your own video collection of "school subjects." Common stuff, like Algebra, and Writing/Multiple languages (English, Chinese (Mandrin), German, Spanish, whatever...) and whatever you are interested in (electives).

To be Ontopic, I think Minetest would be a cool tool to be used in Art/Computer Designing. I wanted to toy with the idea of making a Voxelish movie, and Minetest would be the start. It also would be good as an example toward a "create your own 'mod' language" (basically our modified lua into easy writing of Minetest code) and usage of Irrlicht library. Other than that, all other ideas a pretty far fetched. It would be cool to have people write code changes to Minetest source for their class, and maybe make a pull request to help Minetest.

Just some wistful thinking.

[rubenwardy]

I think that algebra is necessary as brain training, which has an impact on life.

In my opinion, education is key to the success of a good economy, and a good economy affects us all. When only the richest children have good/the best education there is a bad economy where they gain all the money. (which still happens anyway, but less so). Education should contain life skills, but it should focus on giving pupils a wider, more open, mind. Teaching biology at school is useful because you may not know you like biology if you never do it, and it also widens your mind.

[MirceaKitsune]

From what I wanted to say most quickly on the matter: Several years ago, I remember making a thread in which I discussed how engines like Minecraft / Minetest can be used not only as games, but as virtual spaces. Sure, they are officially labeled as games and usually seen as a pastime... but unlike first person shooters or racing sims, these also act as world simulators where you can create virtual environments.

Those who are familiar with Second Life and OpenSim likely know what I'm talking about. SL has been created and used primarily as a place where people design worlds and meet virtually to chat or do other activities. From a technical perspective, Second Life and Minetest are similar... with the exception that SL lets you upload textures / models / etc in realtime, and you make stuff out of fixed shapes instead of voxels.

So I can easily see how this could be used as an educational tool! In fact, Minetest could even be used to make virtual classrooms, or host virtual meetings... although it wasn't yet considered for such purposes as far as I know, and still has many limitations.

[Don]

I think that algebra is necessary as brain training, which has an impact on life.

In my opinion, education is key to the success of a good economy, and a good economy affects us all. When only the richest children have good/the best education there is a bad economy where they gain all the money. (which still happens anyway, but less so). Education should contain life skills, but it should focus on giving pupils a wider, more open, mind. Teaching biology at school is useful because you may not know you like biology if you never do it, and it also widens your mind.

I agree. The only issue I have with school is that it needs to focus more on the individuals strengths.

[shvenky]

found a video, which may or may not be very interesting for 'Minetest Officials'
https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/p ... 4_high.mp4

IB it might be a huge chance for the Open World if the ppl there on this kickstarting project would get briefing about what is possible in MT.....

Shvenky

[twoelk]

...
Making school focus on life skills such as money management, cooking, survival, etc. Not algebra which has no impact on life at all...

I think that algebra is necessary as brain training, which has an impact on life.
...

eh?
are you kidding?
please have a look at some description of what algebra is and then have a look at what skills most jobs or proffessions need and then go shopping and try planning any purchase in relation too your funds.

The simple question how much some amount of anything costs if the price is given in some other quantity allready contains basic problems that most people solve with some sort of algebra. Ok you can make a geometric drawing to solve some calculations or use a counting device but that is not very practicall.

I agree that some schools may go a little over the top with the depth of knowledge they might hope their pupils to excell in but to state you don't need any algebra at all in normal life is simply wrong. Although of course some may think that the basics of algebra are rather a part of common sense than some sort of math ...

... but contrary to what most believe most of what is percieved as common sense has to be learnt at some time in life. The idea that humans are born with common sense is for the most part absolutely wrong and even those that aquire it by themselves as autodidacts are only few and are often considered to have strange ideas about how things work or should be - ideas that are not common.

[christoferl]

Good Day! I just found 'minetest' about two months ago after falling in love with Minecraft on XBox. Now? I'm learning Lua and how to build educational machines . Long way to go but I LOVE this over Minecraft as I work for a struggling school district and I really want to offer a solution to some budgetary short comings.

I am working to create a Minetest educational world starting with students k-2 but expanding over the course of years, thus allowing us time to truly master the challenges of content creation and programming.

Some great things that can add more value to Minetest as 'educational'.

1) Student ID numbers - one issue with older kids in our district is there are many things tied to their student id number which they struggle to remember. I can tell you that if you take an 8 or ten digit number and use half as a 'secret name' and half as a 'password' most students will have their log-in memorized within two weeks of usage.

2) Opening the server to the students via external ip would certainly provide incentive for students to build and grow their online communities using educational modules in addition to mining, crafting.

3) We are setting up an official city within the student's 'world' which is being setup to mimic a simple class c computer network so to start their understanding of how computers communicate. In other words, registered buildings (teaching modules) will have a fictional IP address. Students can create their own buildings and register them in order to receive an IP address which grants them access to a 'teleporting system' (Travelnet mod works great)

4) Using currency and traders, even with the younger students, adds a huge component as they purchase special items that can't be crafted to decorate or enhance their creations.

5) The long term vision is to start with the elementary schools and bring Minetest up the grade levels as the initial group of students move on into the Middle School then High School. There will certainly be opportunities to teach them everything from simple modding to complicated programming.

I am working my way through this thread but became so excited I wanted to share with the world. LOL.

Right now, there are basically a handful of people in the school district I work for who see the potential of this project. And of those handful, I am working with a single collaborator (2nd grade school teacher). I am one of the techs in the district so I know first hand what is happening with educational software and schools who simply cannot afford subscription based services and over inflated licenses.

I will start sharing some simple mods we are using soon and welcome any and all thoughts, comments, questions, etc. as we go. I am very excited to see that others are already digging into this fantastic educational tool.

[Don]

@Christoferl
Welcome. A lot of people see minetest as a great educational tool. Glad to see that you are using it to. There has not been enough development on the educational part of minetest.
If you need any help or have any questions just ask. The community is very willing to help. There are many great programmers here.

[Mito551]

The main point that everyne is missing here is - Minecraft did it. Minecraft found a way to enter into classrooms. What stops US from doing the same?

excuse me if that was answered already, but the answer lies in the question itself. minecraft already did it. nobody needs mt for what mc's already done. so, the only way mt may be used is for programming, but i don't see that happening either - too small of a scope (menning that noone know mt exists.) and too much like mc.

[apienk]

excuse me if that was answered already, but the answer lies in the question itself. minecraft already did it. nobody needs mt for what mc's already done. so, the only way mt may be used is for programming, but i don't see that happening either - too small of a scope (menning that noone know mt exists.) and too much like mc.

Don't be such a pessimist.

First, it is too early for MC to celebrate entering the schools. Games in education still are a controversial idea. It was only a month or two ago when Northern Ireland became the first country in the world which decided to buy MC for all its schools. Now, the rest of the world will closely watch this experiment. If it fails, MC will not enter mainstream. MT neither, of course.

Second, MC is expensive. It might not be expensive for a single end user but for a school it is, particularly in countries or regions where schools have very limited funds -- like mine. MT is free and can easily replace MC in educational activities.

Third, if MC wins and enters the mainstream, the popularity of MT might actually grow because more people will know what can be done with such a sandbox game and will start looking for a free and open-source alternative.

The only reason I can think of that might cause MT to die is M$ releasing MC as open-source. But this not something I would expect.

[Mito551]

i'm being a realist. if schools can afford ms office and ms windows, then they can afford mc too, if they can't, well, it's not kind of a school that would go and carry out educational experiments, you know.
uhm, i highly doubt mc being more popular would give rise to popularity of mt. like it's insanely popular right now and what that gives to mt? next to nothing.
it's not something this community can do outside and/or without a proper marketing or advertising campaign. people need to know about mt and like it before considering other applications than entertainment. minecraft wasn't being thought as an education tool until just recently and that game existed for... how long? yeah, pretty long, i think you get my point.

[Don]

My daughters school uses linux on all their computers. They use libre office.
They do not use MT for education but they do have it installed on a number of computers. I can not see them buying MC because of budget reasons. If MT had good educational mods then I can see them using it in the classroom.

[rubenwardy]

i'm being a realist. if schools can afford ms office and ms windows, then they can afford mc too, if they can't, well, it's not kind of a school that would go and carry out educational experiments, you know.
uhm, i highly doubt mc being more popular would give rise to popularity of mt. like it's insanely popular right now and what that gives to mt? next to nothing.
it's not something this community can do outside and/or without a proper marketing or advertising campaign. people need to know about mt and like it before considering other applications than entertainment. minecraft wasn't being thought as an education tool until just recently and that game existed for... how long? yeah, pretty long, i think you get my point.

It depends on the licensing, if you would need to buy it for 20 computers that's £150. That money could go elsewhere.

[Don]

Here is an old article about my school district. It is from 8 years ago but shows how open source can benefit schools.

http://archive09.linux.com/feature/62285

[apienk]

Here is an old article about my school district. It is from 8 years ago but shows how open source can benefit schools.

http://archive09.linux.com/feature/62285

This is a truly great success story. Thanks for sharing. I am going to use it.

[GFX_Garage]

This teacher is actually using Minetest in his classroom.

https://www.youtube.com/user/whatdamath/videos

[twoelk]

A map that could be used to educate about roman baths and offers a project to study the uncertainties of reconstructing ancient buildings