I have problems with games, especially the computer kind. I’ve never really played any. I messed about with some sort of space invaders game on my first Mac, a Performa 475, but got bored. I played Myst for about 20 minutes because it was free with the Mac. I had more fun trying to ResEdit it to poke through its HyperCard roots than I ever did playing.
My problem comes from my work as a primary teacher. I’ve dipped my classes toes into making games with Scratch, used a Minecraft alternative, Minetest and various other games.
My difficulty is that I don’t really know enough about games. In Minecraft or minetest I wander around clumsily, in encouraging my class to improve their games I don’t know what a good game looks like. I am not going to invest the time in learning to play so I need to try and find ways to encourage the class from the sidelines. I also need to give up a fair bit of control of the learning and see if pupil leaders emerge.
We have just organised licences for Minecraft Education Edition. I hope to be able to leverage the enthusiasm for playing the game and the curricular resources without having to improve my own skills.