Here's a sneak peak of a video I plan to show Spring term in Media & Society, a class I teach at Linn-Benton Community College.
The video, one of many fine works produced by TED (Technology, Education, Design), features Jane McGonigal of the Institute for the Future. In this video she shares her optimism for the future of the human race, which quite possibly could be saved by those who share the traits of the most engaged video gamers, those who play "World of Warcraft."
Gamers, she suggests, possess four invaluable qualities that could be applied to solving real-life problems. They:
- Possess "urgent optimism"
- Weave a trusted "social fabric"
- Engage in "blissful productivity"
- Desire "epic meaning"
With two boys who play hours of WOW and other games, I see the traits about which she speaks. I'm not sure whether my sons are quite ready to save the world, but I'm willing to let them take a shot at it...
-rp-
