[game_edu] GameMaker vs. Scratch

[Peter Border]

I've taught both. GameMaker is more game-oriented and has all stuff you need for a game right there (lives, intro screens, cool demos, etc). 
Scratch is more programming-oriented and considerably less sexy.

Both work in the classroom.

As usual, which is better depends on the audience and what you're trying to teach.

I think the biggest difference is in getting yr project approved: Scratch has a big MIT sticker on it, which carries a lot more clout, and "game programs" usually need all the clout they can get.




Peter Border
Game and Application Design Chairman
Globe University/Minnesota School of Business
1401 West 76th St
Richfield, MN 55423
pborder at msbcollege.edu
________________________________________
From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [game_edu-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Corvus Elrod [corvus.elrod at zakelro.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 9:03 AM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: [game_edu] GameMaker vs. Scratch

Are you ready to rumble? GameMaker vs. Scratch in the classroom. GO!

As I'm becoming more deeply involved with local education-focused groups (notably: http://ogpc.info and http://chicktech.org), I'm noticing a lot of high school and middle school educators are using GameMaker to teach introductory game design concepts as part of initiatives to get kids (particularly those under-represented in the STEM fields) interested in technology/programming. And while I wouldn't argue that GameMaker is a decent choice for people looking to prototype or rapid-develop games they intend to release, I wonder if it's actually the best choice for educational purposes.

Wouldn't Scratch make more sense? Doesn't Scratch more immediately and directly teach universal programming concepts that can be applied to much more than games? GameMaker, it seems to me, teaches you a lot of game-stuff before you ever get to the foundational logic structures of programming-think.

Maybe that's okay? Maybe that's ultimately counter-productive?

Has anyone else grappled with this? Taught both and have thoughts about the differences? I'm particularly interested in hearing stories about student engagement, successful completion of projects, and (if you have it) success rates of students who go on to major in STEM-related fields in college.

--Corvus

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