Somebody can take something from their imagination, create an external artifact, and then share it. They can even collaborate on larger imaginary structures. This is something that used to be confined to a small number of people that had very high skills in language. These individuals could write a book and describe some imaginary world, like Alice in Wonderland. But not many people had that skill set. Now average people are getting these tools that empower them, to create entire worlds, external to their imagination, to share with other people.

Game based learning is not learning based in or around any particular game. How children experience it and what they do with it incorporates many of the same technologies that have been talked about for the last decade. So the skill set exists. Games based learning is not fifth option – or a strange cousin – it’s something  teachers with or without technological skills can learn quickly and productively – to create a new way of learning and finally present an approach to 21st century that isn’t technologically deterministic or shrouded in commercialised dogma.