This is amazing, I am hopeful more traditional journals start to follow this model.

Hi Yangliang, I agree with most of your comments, but I am kinda skeptical whether the video games are the forms of escaping and distortion of reality. I do agree with you that, virtual reality is a “different” form of reality. Yet, my question is, is it really too different?

While working with people having video games addictions according to the diagnostic criteria, one thing that always fascinated with me was somehow, at the end, the very same problems they were experiencing in their non-virtual lives were re-appearing in the context of video-games. The ones who were failing to collaborate with others were also failing to collaborate in video games, or the ones who are having difficulties in making strategic planning, were also failing on those tasks.

In that sense, video games were providing a vast amount of information where the “needs” of these people are. That is, playing Warcraft, Starcraft or Second Life says a lot about the skills and needs of the persons.

Also, I had a chance to know many people who improved their skills by the means of using videogames. Many people beating their social phobia up by the means of playing Second Life, for instance; or many people meeting with people having similar interests and perspectives similar to them in the virtual reality settings.

In this regard, I feel like as the world outside the videogames, the virtual reality has its own advantages and disadvantages. And these does not necessarily make virtual reality more or less real. For Berkeley and the subjective idealists for instance, we are just our minds, and what we think of shapes our reality.

Yet, by keeping all these metaphysical stuff aside, and talking from a pragmatic perspective, we can assess the needs of the students and by the means of recognizing and minimizing the disadvantages and maximizing the advantages, we can integrate the video games reality to our understanding and practice.

Hi Zach, I had a similar experience in my high school, and while reading you post, I realize that it was one of my most meaningful educational experiences that shaped not only my perspective as a student but as a teacher as well. As you mentioned, once the student feels like s/he can relate to the class material, make use of it personally and professionally, the definition of the lecture and how the information is conveyed becomes secondary.. Thanks again, yesim

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Hi Ashish, thanks for bringing the issue of engagement of the students. I agree with you that, as human beings we are all striving for growth and we are all curious. This education system should have been "doing" something to the minds of the students, so that they lose their interest in class content. I feel like this may be happening because education is becoming a purpose, rather than a tool. A purpose, that is not meaningful at all. When the students feel like what is "covered" in class, will be really meaningful for them, they naturally get engaged... I think the issue of meaning is particularly related to engagement.. Best, yesim