Hi Grid,
Technical struggle: editing! It's the last skill I have been working on and it takes so much time and patience. but if it is well done it can turn a simple recording into a glossy and elegant product!
I'd like to further explore to what extent point 2, " we help our students make machinima to help them learn a concept", can enhance students' learning.
I sometimes imagine giving a class of English as a second language learners the task to make a machinima using simple present. Forgetting the third person S being one of the most common mistakes, I reckon it would add so much extra practice whilst keeping them focused on the problem....Going wild with imagination: Have a tin on one side where to put a cent for every mistake, to be spent on party refreshments at the end of the project...would probably bring the class near a pharaonic party ;-D
I very much like the expression 21st Century skills, and I'd go deeper into the "Creativity" one: writing the story, the dialogues, photography; designing of scenes, clothes, avatars; editing, choosing music... All these passages of "learning by doing" open up to an "effervescent" community, where to express personal identity and enjoy learning.