General Information
Find information about the educational game ”Time Travel at Uppåkra”.
General Information
NPC: Sofia Winge
Present day Uppåkra vs historical Uppåkra
Welcome! My name Is Sofia Winge, and I work for the Uppåkra Foundation as an archaeologist. We are a non-profit organization in the south of Sweden, with the mission of mediating a fantastic archaeological site called Uppåkra!
Did you know that in mainland Sweden just a short distance from Malmo lies hidden the remains of one of the greatest Iron Age villages in Northern Europe. For over 1100 years, this was a big centre of power. It was the home of a dynasty of rulers, and a holy place where people worshipped the old Norse Gods; Odin among many others. Today, there is nothing above ground more than fields and pastures. Only 0,2% has so far been excavated, and we are facing a unique possibility to rewrite history!
Uppåkra in the Minecraft world
My collegues and I have, together with children from local schools participating in the Archaeology School, started unravelling the mysteries of Uppåkra.
By entering this game-based Minecraft map of Uppåkra, you can join in the research and try to find out how the people of Uppåkra lived.
Help the archaeologists with the excavation in the Minecraft map, and travel back in time to unravel the mysteries of the objects you find. With each find you will learn more and more about the history of Uppåkra, but also about different methods and scientific disciplines that the archaeologists use to gain knowledge.
The game versus reality
Meet the Uppåkra Archaeologists and the Scientific Board
Hi! I’m Katarina Carlsson, and I am the chairman of the Scientific Board.
Inside the Minecraft Map, you will interact with so called NPC:s (Non-player characters). The names and the identities of these characters are real life archaeologists and scientists from the Scientific Board now working at Uppåkra. In this game, you will therefore meet a physical engineer and astronaut as well as scientists in cognitive science, pedagogy and osteology among others.
You will also have the chance, in combination with the Minecraft game, to book a real-life meeting with these archaeologists and send questions to the scientists, as well as to help answer the students’ questions and to create a more profound understanding of Uppåkra.
Click here to meet us in the real world!
How to send a digital letter to the Scientific board
If you or your students have questions for the Scientific board, perhaps about their profession, something they explain in the game, or about their research, send them to sofia.winge@uppakra.se.
NPC: Katarina Carlsson
NPC: Christer Fuglesang
Meet astronaut Christer Fuglesang
Hello! My name is Christer Fuglesang, and I am a member of the Scientific board of Uppåkra. I am also a professor of spaceflight, and an astronaut. In 2006, I became the first Swede in space ! I am one of the characters in the game. I talk about astronomy and what people during the Iron Age thought of the moon, sun and stars, among other things. Come see me in the game!
Grej of the Day
Hello! My name is Micke Hermansson. When I worked as a teacher, I came up with a model of super short lessons called “Grej of the Day” or GOTD.
Nowadays, GOTD is used not only in Sweden but in more than 30 countries around the world. GOTD is about students receiving a clue that sparks their curiosity.
Then they have time to think and try to figure out the answer before you, as the teacher, give them a micro-lesson with some fun facts.
Read more about the clues and answers in the Teachers guide (link to guide in progress).
The students will get the clues on this site Facts about Uppåkra (länk till sidan) and the answers and some fun facts from my avatar (NPC) in the game.
Here you can read a little more about me and GOTD (link to GOTD pitch in progress)
Micke Hermansson
Book a digital meeting (30 minutes)
If you would like to set up a digital meeting in your classroom, please contact me, Elvira Landh, Science Educator and Archaeologist on bokning@uppakra.se. I will help you out with your booking by your choice of digital platform (Teams, Skype, Zoom etc.). The digital meeting is free of charge, but we have limited slot times.
NPC: Elvira Landh
NPC: Håkan Aspeborg
The ongoing excavations – the students’ interpretations based on real finds
Hello! I am Håkan Aspeborg and I am leading the excavations at Uppåkra together with my team of archaeologists from Lund University.
In 2022, the largest research excavations in Sweden to this day started at Uppåkra. Generations of great so called Great Halls, wooden palaces that were once the homes of the rulers of Uppåkra, are being excavated. Many more answers to the secrets of Uppåkra will be revealed, and the history will be rewritten for the years to come. In this game, one of the missions is to rebuild the Great Hall. The students work with the latest results and finds from the excavations in order to create their interpretation of the building, and may also participate in a contest. The interpretation closest to the results of the excavations ending in 2025 will win the contest!
You can send in your contribution to science to sofia.winge@uppakra.se, by taking a screenshot. Don’t forget to hand in documentation on your choice of materials and interpretations. In 2025 we will announce the winner!
Click here to read more about Great Hall quest.
Why Minecraft Education?
Minecraft Education can be used to spark creativity in the classroom. It is already played by millions of kids worldwide about equally between girls and boys. Used wisely by a pedagog in the classroom, Minecraft can be a platform for learning other subjects that might otherwise be harder to spark interest in. This is also referred to as Connected Learning. Minecraft Education has parts particulary created to be used in a classroom setting for example the NPC (to be the story teller and the person guiding the students in the game).
How to get started
This Minecraft world was created for the Minecraft Education Edition. In order to play this world you need to have Minecraft Education Edition and a Microsoft Academic account. All Microsoft Academic accounts lets you play Minecraft Education Edition for free for up to 10 times. To download Minecraft Education Edition Click Here.
Questions
If you have any questions about Minecraft Education Edition or how it works, go to the official Minecraft Education Edition sources, and they will help you out.
Useful links
Start | Minecraft Education Edition
On the official website for Minecraft Education, there is good advice on how to get started, tips and tricks.
If you would like to book a digital or physical workshop, we can highly recommend Kodcentrum in Sweden on how to work with Minecraft Education in the classroom. Contact emma@kodcentrum.se for more information.
Set up the game
Set-up: We advise you to start with one of the easier worlds together with your students before playing Time travel at Uppåkra, since this world is just a little bit more complex than the average game world in the platform.
- Download the Time travel at Uppåkra World from the top of this page (it can take some time before the world is downloaded)
- Open the world file (this opens Minecraft Education Edition)
- Log in with your Microsoft Academic account
- Play!
Or
- Download the Time travel at Uppåkra World from the top of this page (it can take some time before the world is downloaded)
- Open Minecraft Education Edition
- Click play
- Click import
- Select the downloaded world file
- Open
- Play!
For now, this game file can only be downloaded from this website. Later on, it will also be available on the Minecraft Educational platform.
How to translate in the game
This game is in English. It can easily be translated into your choice of language if needed. A Swedish version of the game is under development.
Commands
These are a few commands in general. There is more advice on how to manage each quest in the Teachers guide.
If you get stuck:
Press T to open a chat window. Type /function travel/next to get unstuck
Need to travel back to present time Uppåkra?
Talk to the crow Munin and follow his instructions.
On foot
W = forward
S = Backwards
A = Strafe left
D = Strafe right
Control (CTRL) or double tab W = sprint
Left mouse button Without item = Swing arm / attack / destroy
Left mouse button With item = Swing item (to dig) / attack / destroy
Right mouse button = Talk to people
Right mouse button = Get on bike
Right mouse button = interact with objects (display with items)
Right mouse button = Place block
Right mouse button = Get on bike
Space = Jump
Q = Drop item
E = Open inventory
1-9 or scroll on mouse = select item in hotbar
On Bike:
W = forward
S = Backwards
A = Strafe left
D = Strafe right
Space or shift = Get off bike
Lesson overview
For a more detailed lesson overview, see the Teachers guide PDF. Download it here.
The Time travel at Uppåkra -world is big and can best be played in parts. Each part should take approximately 30 minutes to play. Of course this is highly individual depending on each classroom set up. It can be combined with a lesson after or before the gameplay to zoom in on certain topics.
The guide below shows the proposed set-up for playing the parts of the world in the classroom. Parts can be played in order as described below, but a different order can be played if that is preferred.
Contribute to our research
This game is tested during 2022-2023. We are grateful for your feedback on how you have been working with the Time travel at Uppåkra in your classroom. Any suggestion on how we could upgrade the game for the better are appreciated.
Advice on classroom-rules
NPC: Teacher
Every teacher knows his or her classroom well but here is some general advice from a teacher to teachers using Minecraft in the classroom.
Stop on a regular basis to collect knowledge and lift up questions and share experiences. Use the code Time out when you want everyone’s attention. We suggest periods of 20 min and then a time out.
Hands off the computer and screens folded down for best listening. A golden rule to be established before start.
Set the standard of helping each other early. Arrange the classroom so that children can help each other ( many times we have seen this happen in a beautiful way).
Decide on how you want to document the game and make sure this is done throughout the map.
Certificate of completion
After each quest, the students will get a certificate. This certificate can be used as proof that a student completed the quest. It also shows what soft skills they have trained with the quest and what learning objectives they have achieved.
When you click on the certificate link, your web browser will open. It will ask for your Microsoft account details or immediately recognize what Microsoft account you are using currently. With these credentials each student will be able to get their personal certificate. You can even review the complete soft skill profile of a student and see what challenges (quests) the have completed in the past.
The Uppåkra model
World built by Team Workbench. Iamprogrez designed the learning aspect and added the skill builder so that the world trains and measures soft skills. In collaboration with students from Uppåkra School and the Jonslund School in Sweden, Kodcentrum, and the Archaeologists at The Uppåkra Foundation.
This project is funded by Microsoft.
