Thanks Nils, useful. Sounds like a really inspiring project.. that video 
is ace :-)



_____________________________


*Mike Ellis *

Thirty8 Digital: a small but perfectly formed digital 
agency:http://thirty8.co.uk <http://thirty8.co.uk/>

* My book: http://heritageweb.co.uk <http://heritageweb.co.uk/> *



> Nils Pokel <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 6 July 2014 21:40
> Hi there,
>
> we’ve just kicked off a year-long project leading up to the WW1 
> centenary where we are partnering up with a local media / gaming 
> college<http://pickandshovel.net/ww1/> who already have some 
> experience working with Minecraft, have the ecosystem (servers etc) 
> all set up & ready to go and have an active user base.
>
> The big idea is that we get kids to rebuild the Gallipoli landing 
> sites, trenches, war machinery etc in Minecraft referencing historical 
> source materials from our collections. Students are creating a world 
> which is as accurate as possible which will then subsequently be used 
> in an educational programme with partnering schools who each can 
> contribute or just have a play to get as sense of scale and the 
> environment. The plan is to release the world to the general public as 
> a learning resource to be used in Minecraft or MinecraftEdu once the 
> building is all done.
>
> We ran a 2-day ‘building weekend’ with a selected group of about 20 
> students from schools we knew were already using Minecraft. The 
> activities including getting them to visit our war galleries, sessions 
> with our curators, handling objects and sighting heritage materials 
> (maps, photos) from our pictorial collections to get them in the zone. 
> This was followed by the actual building session that we ran open to 
> the public who could drop in, ask questions, look at the kids as they 
> were building. The building session was lead by a team of senior 
> students and two teachers who ensured each group knew what they had to 
> build an where.
>
> Even at this early phase of the project the results where nothing but 
> spectacular. We had wonderful moments of intergenerational learning 
> between our participants and the war vets and volunteers from the 
> Armoury. The kids were sighting historic materials from our 
> collections and were eagerly taking up feedback from the Library team 
> who contributed their wealth of knowledge (some were even seen reading 
> books!). The results of the building weekend are fascinating with a 
> number of battle ships, landing boats, terrains and landing sites 
> already created.
> Here’s a timelapse video of the build: 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gTehNKxfME&feature=youtu.be
>
> Running throughout the next year the initiative already feels like a 
> very successful experiment and a true collaboration across internal 
> teams and external partners that ticks a lot of boxes for us. It was 
> (continues to be) a steep learning curve for us as Minecraft sometimes 
> is not as user friendly in its geekery as one would hope - which does 
> not seem to phase the kids at all, who actually enjoyed showing off 
> their skills and helping us out.
>
> Unsurprisingly the uptake by the media was very good and the interest 
> from the public both online and onsite was significant, too.
> Here are some of the responses to date:
>
> TV:
> ONE News: 
> http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/students-use-minecraft-game-recreate-wwi-battle-video-5914372
> 3news: 
> http://www.3news.co.nz/Students-mine-history-for-Anzac-anniversary/tabid/412/articleID/339897/Default.aspx
> The 4:30 Show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQuK_aI8kI
>
> Online:
> http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/games/60107102/gallipoli-recreated-in-minecraft.html
> http://www.mch.govt.nz/news-events/news/kiwi-kids-bring-anzac-history-life-minecraft
>
> Cheers,
> Nils
>
>
>
>
> Nils Pokel | Digital Strategist - UX / Emerging Technologies | 
> Auckland War Memorial Museum | Tamaki Paenga Hira | The Domain, 
> Private Bag 92018, Auckland 1142, New Zealand | www.aucklandmuseum.com 
> | M +64 21 449 811 | P +64 9 306 7070 ext 7109 | F +64 9 379 9956 | E 
> [log in to unmask] | T @nilscreates
>
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> From: Mike Ellis <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> Reply-To: Museums Computer Group 
> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> Date: Monday, 7 July 2014 5:44 am
> To: "[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>" 
> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> Subject: Re: [MCG] Minecraft and museums
>
> Thanks all, really interesting set of answers.
>
> The "it's another Second Life" discussion is one I'm aware of, and
> interested in hearing both sides of !
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> _____________________________
>
>
> *Mike Ellis *
>
> Thirty8 Digital: a small but perfectly formed digital
> agency:http://thirty8.co.uk <http://thirty8.co.uk/>
>
> * My book: http://heritageweb.co.uk <http://heritageweb.co.uk/> *
>
>
>
> Mar Dixon <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 4 July 2014 14:47
> Posting for Adam Clarke who is dealing with weak wifi:
>
> To add to the closed paid for system argument - there is a school version
> called MinecraftEdu - so kids are using it in schools already - and a free
> version that you can run on a 25quid Raspberry Pi (no monsters but full
> building tool set) this is what we have at our studio - leads to
> programming and 3D printing excitement !
>
> I have a feeling that Mojang will also be making a VR version for use with
> (not Oculas Rift) they were on a path to produce a free version but then
> ORift got swallowed by Facebook and Mojang pulled out in protest - this
> company is small and anti corp
>
> See the story on Mojang here http://youtu.be/ySRgVo1X_18
> ---------------------------------------------
>
> To add to things, I often suggest Minecraft as a way to get young people
> involved with museums. Even young people who are in their teens might not
> 'play' with it but ask them to build an exhibition and they are so there.
>
> Mike Ellis <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 4 July 2014 13:18
> Adam Clarke (@thecommonpeople) and video'd here:
>
> http://www.fastcolabs.com/3026074/how-to-keep-museums-alive-in-the-age-of-minecraft
>
> ...was at Museum Next giving a very inspiring talk about Minecraft and
> how it could be used in and around museums. I chatted to him over
> coffee and he's got a brain full of ideas.
>
> It is relatively easy (I think) to argue that this isn't "just a
> game", but could / can take some pretty exciting educational
> directions. Adam for example has created huge versions of the human
> torso that you can walk around in and see all the biological bits and
> bobs, or reproductions of historic buildings, galleries, etc. His
> "Tatecraft" proposal linked above involves for example visitors being
> able to "walk into" works of art.. and so on
>
> Given this (and yes, insert AR-GoogleGlass-style
> ~ohgodanothertechthing~ disclaimer here) - what's going on (are _you_
> doing Minecrafty stuff for your museum?) and if "not much", should it
> be more?
>
> I'd counter the groans (and would pitch this directly against other
> many new technologies which often have tiny numbers of users) by
> saying that I've never seen such a unifying tech-based phenomenon
> amongst kids. If you've got small people and they're aged 6-12ish then
> I bet you 50p they're into Minecraft.
>
> This seems like a natural fit to me: an engaging, totally immersive
> technology that a huge audience is *already* using: we'd be stupid to
> not make the most of it, right?
>
> On the flipside: one of our clients just pointed out - rightly - that
> this is a closed, paid-for, proprietary bit of software. So really it
> goes against everything we think we stand for.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Mike
>
>
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> Mike Ellis <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> 6 July 2014 18:44
> Thanks all, really interesting set of answers.
>
> The "it's another Second Life" discussion is one I'm aware of, and 
> interested in hearing both sides of !
>
> Mike
>
>

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