This wiki is a storehouse of resources, ideas and fun stuff for a small group of educators using video games with their students. It's pretty Minecraft focused at the moment, but I'm sure that will change. Check out the Minecraft Club Hub wiki to see what we're learning while we play!

This episode of +Teachers Teaching Teachers was recorded in Minecraft. We were Livecasting from +Joel Levin's / @MinecraftTeachr 's server with +Liam O'Donnell / @liamodonnell , Chad Sansing / @chadsansing , +Diana Maliszewski / @MzMollyTL , and +Denise Colby / @Niecsa .

Thanks to Jacob for this one... Codecademy is the easiest way to learn how to code. It's interactive, fun, and you can do it with your friends. This track teaches JavaScript and leads you to creating games with JavaScript.

Thanks to Jacob for this resource including 30 free downloadable ebooks that teach a variety of programming languages.

Thanks to Jacob for this site with links to 3d animation resources... An Introduction to 3D 3D models are created by manipulating polygon meshes and molding them into objects, characters and scenes. Even if you don't have formal art training that goes beyond the few classes you took in high school or college you can still do great work in 3D.

Thanks to Jacob for this one... Part I - Introduction Welcome to the first article of an introductory series on game programming using the Microsoft .NET Framework and managed DirectX 9.0. This series as aimed at beginning programmers who are interested in developing a game for their own use with the .NET Framework and DirectX.

9 year old Caine Monroy built an elaborate cardboard arcade inside his dad's used auto parts store. Check it out. This has a lot to teach us all about game design!!!

The Art of Video Games Exhibit is going on from March 16 - September 30. Visit the site for all the corresponding events, details, video trailers, etc. Looks GREAT!

blog post by David Wees describing the process of creating a Choose Your Own Adventure game using google forms.

Interested in creating a Choose your Own Adventure Game? You can do it using google forms and the page navigation feature thanks to the logic branching capabilities. Game on!

I have my students create a 'mini design document' including the following:

- Overall Vision of game (this is kind of the brain dump you refer to)

- Storyline - 2 - 3 paragraph storyline written as a story (not as a description of what the game will be like)

- Characters - list of playable and nonplayable charachters including enemies, bosses, npcs, etc. I require a description of each character including the attributes of the character

- Items - list and descriptions of all items in game (obstacles, keys, power ups, coins, etc.)

- level descriptions - level by level description of the game level environment, what is present in each level, etc.

- scoring mechanisms - description of scoring (lives, health, score, currency, etc.)

- winning / losing scenario - description of what is required to win the game (i.e. defeat the final boss and save the princess) or lose the game (lose 3 lives, etc.)

-game controls - how will the player be controlled in the game (arrow keys, joystick, mouse, etc.)

Hope that helps. Thanks for posting the question!

Mr. I

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal. The article speaks to the idea that research shows positive effects of gaming on the brain.

This site has links to a number of articles related to utilizing Role Playing Games as a vehicle to teach / encourage creative writing.

This site is a tremendous resource for learning how to accomplish many tasks in Game Maker. The video tutorials show you step by step how to achieve so much. Tutorials range from beginning through advanced and cover different types of games, skills, etc.

One teacher shares their experiences using Minecraft in the classroom. The blog includes ideas for incorporating Minecraft in education.

StencylWorks is a Game Development environment that allows you to create games with or without the use of code. It is a visually appealing environment. You can create iOS game or Flash games.

This is a playlist of videos that I have created to teach you how to use Game Maker to create video games.

Tutorials teaching how to program using GML for Game Maker.

MinecraftEdu is the collaboration of a small team of educators and programmers from the United States and Finland. We are working with Mojang AB of Sweden, the creators of Minecraft, to make the game affordable and accessible to schools everywhere. We have also created a suite of tools that make it easy to unlock the power of Minecraft in YOUR classroom.

Valve Software is initiating a program to help create educational opportunities for incorporating Portal and Portal 2 in classrooms to teach Physics and Crititcal Thinking skills.