Two Articles on Education and Virtual Worlds

Both of these articles are on eSchool News Online.  They both cover the sudden real world realization that there are millions of kids who play video games everyday, and that if that interest can be tapped for learning, we might actually have the next big thing in education.  Is it only me, or does this seem so incredibly obvious that it is amazing it took this long for this potential to be identified?  Both of these articles are well worth a read. 

Can Video Games Save Education?

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstory.cfm?ArticleID=6655

MacArthur to Invest $50M in Digital Learning

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showStoryts.cfm?ArticleID=6654