I love this quote - from a link I've just been reading

"In games.....players learn through failure, which is the best route to excellence. Wright alluded to a study involving two pottery classes, one in which students had to spend a session making the best possible single pot and ... the other in which students were told to make as many pots as possible in the same time span. The second approach produced the most high-quality pots."

Check the link below for more...
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The Man Behind Spore Explores Gaming as Learning

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

At the National Academies summit exploring ways to use entertainment technologies to foster science education,  Will Wright, the mind behind  The Sims and  Spore, gave a warp-speed talk laying out why game design has great potential in this arena.

The full session will be online in coming days. In the meantime.....

for more see http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/05/the-man-behind-spore-explores-gaming-as-learning/#more-29855

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Thanks to COTW for pointing me to this link -  Introduction to COTW         http://www.dadamac.net/network/coalition-willing