Gaming in the classroom

This morning I was listening to The World's technology podcast, produced by Clark Boyd. It was very interesting. It's topic was 'persuasive gaming', and the role that video games can play in bringing about social change. He spoke extensively about a new game that was created called "Darfur is Dying". The game allows the player to be a Darfur refugee, and go through what the refugees have to go through just to survive. It is a free online game with the goal of informing people about the conflict in Sudan and hopefully motivate them to participate in the discussion about what the international community should be doing about it.
As I listened to this podcast I began thinking about creating games, and specifically how high school students could create games that deal with issues that are important to them. I hope that in my technology classes, my students aren't solely focused on how to find the resistence at a certain point in a circuit, but rather how they can create something that will solve a problem and benefit others. I could teach students how to write game programs that would address an important issue within our school. Through the medium of a game, they could engage the school in a meaningful conversation. I think that is an exciting prospect.
I want my students to work on projects that will be meaningful to them and will leave them wanting to learn more on their own. I want them to see the value in learning. Maybe I'll even play this podcast for my students when I start teaching next fall.