In autumn 2021, middle school students in Västernorrland, Västerbotten, Norrbotten and Södertälje will have the chance to participate in a School Hackathon. A competition aimed at community development using Minecraft Education as a teaching tool. A hackathon is a creative competition where participants try to solve societal challenges in an innovative way.

Participating in this year’s School Hackathon with the theme Dream City gives students and teachers the opportunity for fun and creative learning with links to several subjects in the curriculum for grades 4-6. As a working method, the participants work with a simplified version of the design process. One of the aims of the School Hackathon is for students to feel involved in social issues and at the same time learn more about innovation, democracy and entrepreneurship.

Over eight weeks, students are given a class assignment to build a shared world in Minecraft Education based on a specific theme. At the end of these eight weeks, all groups present their work to the class. Through democracy, the class then votes on a group to represent them at a regional School Hackathon in November, where the winning group competes against students from other schools.

Thomas Fägerman, CEO of Boden Business Park:

– We are thrilled to be a part of making this school hackathon possible and look forward to seeing what our young people come up with for their thoughts and ideas about the future.

Linda Strandenhed, Project Manager Young Enterprise Norrbotten:

– We are very pleased to be organizing this year’s edition of Skolhackathon in Norrbotten in cooperation with Teknikens Hus in Luleå. It’s a great opportunity for teachers and students to use both our teaching materials and Minecraft Education to learn more about innovation and entrepreneurship. We also see this as a good opportunity for collaboration with Boden Business Park and are excited to work with entrepreneurial learning in a form that feels fun and inviting for both students and teachers.