Playing videogames in class

I went into class feeling a little left out because I'm not a gamer, and what's so great about video games anyway? After reading lots of material on how terrific they are as learning environments, I felt that I've been missing out by not spending more time with an affinity group.

Then I remembered that I have a tiny bit of experience with an early game called Myst which my husband and I played BK (before kids). It was engaging because you were in control in a fantasy world, trying to decipher the clues to solve a mystery, but it wasn't clear cut as to what steps you needed to take. I'd go into work and discuss it with other people, and we'd share ideas as to what worked and didn't.

Realistically, I don't think that our schools are ready for all their content to be delivered by videogames, no matter how engaging and interactive they are. I expect that, as a teacher, I may be able to use software occasionally to illustrate a concept, but overall, I'll need to make the classroom engaging to the students without the bells and whistles of videogames. I would love to model my classroom on an interactive process like this one at MIT:
At MIT, large lectures are going the way of the blackboard. I doubt that high schools or middle schools will ever have the funds to create this kind of environment for their students, but the trick will be to craft whatever I can with the tools I have. There's a lot of free and inexpensive software available, and I need to put some ideas in my back pocket for future use.

I appreciate the practical ideas about online gradebooks, how to read a research article, and how to find reputable research authors. I'm relieved that we can also use peer review for our second executive summary because I'm definitely rusty on the writing part of school!