Epic Wins in the Classroom

In early 2010, Jane McGonigal delivered a TED talk about taking advantage of gamers and the skills they acquire in games such as World of Warcraft to solve real world problems. You can watch the video at the bottom of this post. The whole point of the talk is that gamers spend an incredible amount of time in virtual worlds battling (and winning against) evil super-bad-guys in a never-ending quest--all to achieve that next "epic win." Epic wins, or successfully completing a very difficult task through much time and effort, are partially what make games addictive. In fact, McGonigal points out that the average young adult will spend roughly 10,000 hours playing games by the time they are 21. That is nearly identical to the amount of time a person spends in school between 5th and 12th grade. Over the course of their roughly 10,000 hours of gaming, gamers acquire 4 skills, according to McGonigal:

1. Urgent Optimism--Gamers can't wait to embark on the next quest or mission. They set goals and anticipate reaching those goals, whether it is achieving new skills or a higher leve, or picking up some sweet new piece of gear. They know that if they spend time playing the games, they will reap the benefits of their efforts.
2. A Tight Social Fabric--In real life, gamers are usually depicted as the thirty-something male who lives in his parents' basement, surrounded by pizza boxes, trash, and the unmistakeable stench of bad hygiene. They are social outcasts. Conversely, in the virtual world, these guys have characters who are the avatar equivalent of Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. Not only do they fit in, they are envied, respected, even popular. Thousands of others online are willing to trust them with integral roles in their next world-saving mission.
3. Blissful Productivity--Gamers devote a lot of time to their games, not because they have to, but because they want to. It's fun. They know that working hard in the game is going to pay off later. Even the most menial tasks in the virtual world lead to some kind of positive reward, making even the most menial tasks "worth it" in their minds.
4. Epic Meaning--Gamers feel they are a part of something important. They belong. They share in the joy and excitement of the epic win. They know the group could not have achieved the epic win without them.

Imagine if every student approached their education with urgent optimism, a tight social fabric, blissful productivity, and epic meaning. How do we provide that for our students? How do we create an atmosphere for our students to experience learning in such a way? How do we make epic wins possible in the classroom? Simple. Make education a game. Create a virtual environment that gauges the "level" of each participant.  Provide each participant with specific and important tasks that are on the verge of what each player is capable of. Engage students with epic adventures, tons of collaborators, an epic, inspiring story, and frequent, positive feedback. Meet students where they are. If they want to spend 10,000 hours gaming by the time they are 21 years old, why not teach them English and Social Studies in the process. It's a win-win. Students play games. They learn.