Notes

Danish Government Puts ENTIRE Country on Minecraft to help Teachers

Geography lessons are virtualized: Danish government creates Minecraft version of the entire country to help teachers



The entire country was rebuilt by government's mapping department



Teachers can also make use of Minecraft lesson plans to make education more accessible.



Published at 18:06 EDT, 25 April 2014



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The Danish government has recreated the entire country using the popular computer game Minecraft.



The first nation to be fully transferred into the huge Minecraft games, the government hopes it could help to make learning more enjoyable for students.



It even developed plans for teachers' classes to assist them in navigating this virtual version of their country.



Denmark's Ministry of the Environment has created a large-scale model of the country in Minecraft for players to explore.
Minecraft java


The downloadable model is comprised of four billion blocks. It requires 1 terabyte of storage space.



WHAT IS MINECRAFT?



Minecraft was created in 2009. At the beginning of the game, a player is put into a 'virtually infinite game world.'



They can then explore various terrains, including forests as well as caves.



To get a bird's eye view of the landscape, players are able to fly in the air.



Players are provided with blocks and tools to construct cities and towns.



As players progress, they can earn advanced tools and building blocks in different materials.



The game was initially made for the PC but now there are Xbox 360 and mobile versions available.



The model is comprised of around 4000 billion bricks and is approximately 1TB (1000 Gigabyte) if you want to download the entire United States.



"We've built Denmark online in Minecraft in order that young people can plant their own forest and build riding schools, lakes, wind turbine, biogas plant, and so on the Kirsten Brosbol, Danish Minister for the Environment.



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"Imagination is the only limit."



'This is our way of creating a bridge between the digital and natural worlds.'



It was created by Simon Kokkendorf, Thor Bjorn Nielsen and Geodatastyrelsen (the Danish mapping arm of the Danish government),



They used publically available information about the country including elevation models and information about roads and buildings and then 'transliterated' it into Minecraft's distinctive bricks.



The couple also designed a navigation system so visitors can easily find their own area within the model.



They can also explore the landscapes and natural surroundings as they are in real life.



"Users can go for a stroll' through the countryside in any part of Denmark, and you can look at any location in Denmark roughly in the same way as with Google Street View,' the Agency said.



Orestad school in Copenhagen has been testing the system for teaching students maths and geography.



"In the past, the teacher would roll down the old map of Denmark in the classroom and let the students squabble over the names of the different regions of Denmark,' said Katrin Kristensen, a teacher at the Orestad school.



In the future, Danish school children and others will be able to keep track of in the game plants and animals they have observed or encountered in nature.



"Now" Denmark is available right there on the computers of children or tablets, supporting the idea of using digital tools in teaching.



'We already have good experience using Minecraft in maths teaching for instance.



We can enhance learning with the "real Denmark" now available as a Minecraft World.



"Students think it's much more enjoyable when they're working with their own house or street and the like.'



However, the developers have made one modification to the game - removing the ability to use dynamite to blast up areas.


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