Games can save the world

I am passionate about education and I believe one day I will be involved in something around it. I am also a passionate gamer, so recently I've been flirting with the idea of introducing games in schools that would enhance children's learning. Please note that I am not talking about the unimaginative educational games, but real games and/or game mechanics applied to the classroom.

That's when I crossed paths with this amazing TED video:

Jane McGonigal: Gaming can make a better world

There is also a HBR article about examples of how game mechanics can be (and are) applied to real life situations. And a complete list of game mechanics by the Google Gaming team (or the ridiculous name of SCVNGR).

Not to forget, of course, the Swedish VW example of the game theory in practice, one of the videos of The Fun Theory:

Care to share any insightful ideas after this? :)