Maha, These are some very inspiring ideas, but let me add something that might be further outside the box.

Since “gaming” and “playful” learning became all the rage in the academe, I think the conversation has been dominated a bit too much by the idea of new media, hi-tech, interactive games. In reality, and as you’ve pointed in that direction in some ways, games and play can be socially interactive (rather than interacting with machines and software); they can use words/communication as the means of interaction and engagement; and they can draw on age-old traditions of verbal as well as physical, musical, artistic, and intellectual activities/interactions. In fact, in a world where physical, verbal/human, and artistic “games” are being rapidly replaced by engaging with people, I think that we should be wary of moving too much of our time and attention to the mechanical and virtual. (As I write this into a computer, my five year old son is playing Angry Birds, and I realize that I should have spent more time during the day playing with him during such beautiful summer days.)

I also think that educators need to be cautious about potentially causing or intensifying “cultural” divides between those who are on the low tech and high tech ends when they move into new domains like gaming –as well as reinforcing the digital divides between those with more and less access to technology, the internet, and people beyond their local contexts–both in theory and in practice.

As a bonus, drawing on more traditional “games” can help us do some much-needed pausing and slowing down in our “advancements” in education. Activities that may seem primitive/outdated, old-fashioned, low-tech, slow, etc, seem to be disappearing from education these days. That might make me sound like I’m growing old too fast or something, but there is something about “progress” that tends to make us throw away good tools in favor of new ones, only to realize that old and new could serve different purposes.

Anyway, that was one long-winded way of saying that you inspired some thinking about gaming with your post. I will be elaborating on these thoughts in my blog today.