Joel saw his first computer in 1977 aged 5; a Sinclair calculator and has been playing computer games ever since. Starting with PONG and working through a gaming history in the 80's arcades playing Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Asteroids and Galaxian in the early days. His gaming knowledge continued at home on Sega MegaDrive, Super Nintendo, PS1, PS2, Xbox and PC gaming, providing him with an established pedigree in computer game history. Joel began teaching in Higher Education in 1997 and when Minecraft was released, Joel quickly took it in to his classroom and explored how it could be used in Further and Higher Education for game-based learning. In 2015 Joel won the award of Learning Technologist of the year for his work in Minecraft in Higher Education and has developed award winning projects in Chemistry, History, Archaeology, Business Studies and also a recreation of the University of Hull Brynmore Jones Library. Joel is currently working at the University of Hull as a lecturer and advisor on all aspects of technology enhanced learning and pedagogy.