Those who deny the educational potential of video games have obviously never played Oregon Trail. Several generations of bored elementary schoolers learned to love that buffalo-hunting, wagon-axle-breaking and dysentery-suffering simulator because it represented a break from the doldrums of a normal history lesson, but they also came away with an impressively visceral understanding of the westward expansion of America. Oregon Trail teaches players that life in a wagon train was a struggle against disease, resource scarcity and the great unknown. Though it's just a video game and can't be expected to portray the experience with complete accuracy, it does a lot better job than one might expect. I doubt any modern schools have computers than can even run Oregon Trail (unless some cheeky admin installed DOSbox), but maybe there's a different game that can be used for history class. I would suggest Sid Meier's one-of-a-kind Civilization series.

For almost twenty years Civ has been an important part of the PC gaming landscape. At face value it's just a turn-based strategy game about empire-building, but the incredible details of Civ make it very nearly true to life. With each sequel the game becomes more lush and complex. Most recently with Civilization 4 players have had to manage religious tensions and corporate business in addition to the usual financial, military and cultural issues that have been a part of the series from the very beginning. There are valuable lessons hidden just below the surface in any given campaign of Civ.

Let's say a high school history teacher wants to add an extra dimension to the Global History lesson plan. Civ 4 comes complete with a more or less accurate Earth map with the option to place each individual empire in its historical starting location. From this vantage, a student could come to appreciate the advantages and limitations of a given culture in history, as well as why it chose the strategies that it did. Describe the resource strain of medieval Mongolia and a student may be able to intellectualize the rise of the Mongolian Empire. Place that same student in a game playing as the Mongols and watch how quickly he invests his time in the research of equestrian warriors so he can raid nearby cities.

There is also a modern social lesson inherent to Civilization. Consider the Corporation element of Civ 4. When a given company is founded in the player's civilization the player learns that the company can generate extra revenue for his or her empire, provided the government brokers the right resource deals with foreign powers. In one subtle maneuver the game has demonstrated the unsettling way corporate interests have come to dictate government policy in the real world.

Like any piece of technology, video games can be used as a means to augment and supplement traditional lecture and discussion at all levels of education. Games should not be dismissed as mere entertainment when they have the potential to teach while they have a young mind's attention. Games like Civilization can so easily be harnessed for their classroom potential. Given the right educator and a decent lesson plan as a foundation, Civ and many other video games could revolutionize the way young people learn.