My Avatar's Dog Ate My Homework

Why don't we use gaming more as a tool for education? This seems, to me, like a waste of an incredibly powerful medium just sitting there being used to farm gold or run raids with. This is something that

Here's my idea:

A child wanders into first grade. They are scared, unsure of whats going to happen. The teacher helps the kids to their desks where a laptop sits. On it is a program that lets each student create their own avatar. The avatars are human, about the same age as the kids creating them. They can design them as they want in whatever styles they see fit. These avatars are now the virtual representation of the student that will be used throughout their school years. Yup, you read that right, these are avatars that will follow the students and be a permanent tool that goes with them from First grade through high school. Hell, even college and beyond, why not?

Once the avatars are created they are used in a school run environment where the teacher controls the world, conditions, etc. Suppose the teacher wants to show what it was like when dinosaurs were around. The teacher could select a pre-made world populated with dinosaurs and have the students log in to explore the world. As the teacher is instructing verbally the students are seeing and interacting with the virtual dinosaur world. The dinosaurs could be scaled to show how big they are next to their avatar, watch as they hunted or roamed around. After that the teacher moves on to math, the students, still logged in and learns their math tables in in an interactive presentation. Almost all subjects are taught, partially , through the online site.

Homework can be assigned and uploaded in the "virtual school". Grades can be assigned and seen online. Students can get this info at home and if they wish to stay and explore the school world they can. I should note now that this world would be a closed environment, only registered students/parents and teachers/school personnel allowed. There would also be a lot of parental controls and monitoring of chat and actions.

Want to study the old west and try to experience what it was like? Maybe the teacher loads in an old west setting and tasks each student to try and survive as they did back then. American government could be taught by creating a virtual Congress and assigning each student as a virtual Congressman to learn how they pass bills, etc. How about learning to budget your check book while living in a virtual apartment with virtual bills? Students can select what they want (electricity, cable, food, etc) and see the consequences of overindulgence and learn to make their money work for them. Biology class could get interesting. Instead of using real dead animals, you could dissect virtually. Studying the human body, say the skeletal system? The teacher could load in functions so your avatar can be seen as a skeleton. Now I know what some will say, well what happens when they hit the subject of reproduction/sex/etc? Subjects like that would be taught offline, face to face with the teachers.

Is your school unable to afford field trips to museums, plays and such? Why not go virtual and explore it at your desk?

Moving to a new school...in another state? Not a problem! Student can log in and select the new school they are going to and explore the virtual campus, talk to other students and teachers and get the general feel of the real world school all before they even get there. Student administrators simply ask the parents for their students ID number, log in and can instantly see grades, homework and assignments that the student has done throughout their school life.

As the student moves on to higher grades the avatar follows you. You move to a new class, sit down at your desk and log in to your student. You may notice that your avatar has grown and aged just like you have. You continue your studies with your virtual self like nothing ever happened.

Look, the possibilities are endless folks. Space exploration, world religion, science, math, music, history, business, government, foreign languages, etc. Its all possible to teach and explore this in virtual worlds. So why don't we see anybody out there trying to do this? I've seen a few educational sites, and while some are good, they are all one way. That is the student simply sits there while the computer instead of the teacher lectures them.

It's time to get innovative. Time to really sink some serious money and thought into developing this. Its time to put our talents in game design and passion for virtual worlds in a very worthy cause..the education of our future leaders.