Education and Science, Lithuania, Technology
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Sunday, 06.07.2025, 00:45
How building a Tesla factory changed classwork for Lithuanian schoolchildren

“We wanted to draw Tesla’s attention to Lithuania as a
good place for their new factory, so we built a replica on the Minecraft gaming
platform, like a virtual model of the possible building. The New York
Times wrote about it and Tesla itself also liked the idea, writing in its
Twitter account that Lithuania knew the way to their heart,” says Vytautas
Butkus, one of the founders of the company Trys Kubai.
The construction work that brought international
attention took a full 36 hours. It could be followed in real time on the
Internet.
“The kids who did it asked us a lot of questions – and
not only about Minecraft or Tesla, but also about electric vehicles, green
energy and the Kruonis power plant,” Butkus recalls.
That, he says, is when his team realised that by using
this game they were talking in the children’s language and could interest them
even in highly complex topics.
“It went to show that children are curious by nature,
for them there aren’t any boring things. We understood that providing kids with
information in a form they like solves many everyday learning challenges. It’s
easier to get their interest,” Butkus says.
He also notes that the learning process becomes more
effective when, together with theoretical information, children are also given
an opportunity to engage.
“Minecraft is a sandbox type game – sort of like Lego
but moved to the digital world. In it you can not only create activities for
classes but also give kids a space for they themselves to be creators,” he
says.
Plans for schools abroad as well
A hundred classes of Lithuanian first graders have
already tried classes with Minecraft – and that number is set to grow, since
the social enterprise intends to expand its activities.
“We plan to develop a special educational platform and
offer it to primary school classes all over Lithuania. One thing that will help
is the 20,000-euro prize sponsored by Tele2 that we won in the Reach for Change
organisation’s “Talent to Change” competition this spring. No less important is
professional help at the business incubator where we’re getting valuable
advice. And we won’t stop there – if the product does well in Lithuania, we
hope to also offer it to schools in other countries,” the social entrepreneur
says.
According to Butkus, one of the company’s goals is to
contribute to the United Nations Agenda goals of quality education and
reduction of inequality, which are highly relevant in Lithuania as well.
“We’re happy to be able to share and contribute
to the social changes that children in the country need. I’m confident that
this daring project will help schools take advantage of technologies for
developing modern-day assignments and more effective learning,” says Petras
Masiulis, the CEO of Tele2.
From perimeters to the food pyramid
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As Vytautas Butkus puts it, given the sandbox
characteristics that were mentioned, Minecraft can be put to use in any subject
area: kids can calculate the perimeter and area of a house during mathematics,
work through a labyrinth of words in Lithuanian class, or gather food products
from a digital market while learning about the food pyramid during social
studies.
“A publisher of exercises and textbooks is helping
develop activities for our platform, so the new tools are integrated into the
approved school programmes. Minecraft is just an additional learning method,”
he says.
He adds that he has not yet come upon a class where
the game cannot be used – everything depends on the creativity of the
developers and the pupils.
To be sure, since a lot is also being said these days
about children’s addiction to technologies, the platform’s creator stresses
that he takes the matter very seriously.
“We hope the product that we’ve built will create the
conditions for adults and children to talk about having a healthy and productive
relationship with technologies. The world is advancing rapidly, so technologies
will only multiply – we, for our part, are offering a useful product for the
time that parents, teachers and children do decide to spend at the screen,”
Butkus explains.