Know the value and drawback of games. If you want to hear what some academics have to say about it, there are some provocative video clips
available from Frontline. Good video games encourage students to make mistakes,good video games give immediate feedback. On the other hand, they divorce kids from solving real world problems and tamper with realistic expectations about the nature of solving difficult problems.

Games Learning Society - Resources and yearly conference

Why games?

• Play is a requirement for healthy brain development
• Research support for learning benefits of chess
• Free online version of The Art of Game Design, by Chris Crawford. Crawford is a master game designer and deep thinker. His insights have remarkable connections to designing optimal environments and experiences for learning.
• Teens, Video Games, and Civics: Teens’ gaming experiences are diverse, and include significant social interaction and civic engagement. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, September 16, 2008.
• The 10 Very Best Reasons for Using Classroom Games
  Over the past 15 years, we have raised the question, "Why do you use classroom games?" to our clients and workshop participants. From their feedback we have constructed a list of the 10 very best reasons for using learning games for trainers and educators...
• Games for Educators - in support of all kinds of games in education

• Educational Games: How Attitudes and Markets Influence Design by Sylvia Martinez. Paper presented at the Australian Computers in Education Conference - October 2006
• The use of computer and video games for learning. A review of the literature.(PDF) Mitchell A. and Savill-Smith, C. (2004) Learning Skills and Development Agency, Ultralab, London, UK
• Does Easy Do It? Children, Games, and Learning by Seymour Papert, From the June 1998 issue of Game Developer magazine, "Soapbox" section, page 88. Also included is a letter in response to Papert's article and Papert's response to that letter, both of which appeared in the September 1998 issue of the magazine.