Fear/Humiliation

What an interesting article about World of Warcraft and how someone can actually learn something from playing the game. I found myself agreeing with the writer because I too can understand that there is a time for orders and to follow them completely. There is a time when there will be no one there to catch you and you must do what needs to be done. I found a few phrases in the article interesting.

"A 25-person raid is the same size as a class, and like a class its leader can only take it to places places that it is willing to go." Well, I think that sums up real world leadership and management. You can't take people places they aren't willing to go. When I first read this I thought about motivation. I thought maybe this means we can't really motivate anyone. Then I realized that is not what it means to me. It means fear can stop you. Motivation can be given to you by others, but fear is a "mind killer" so to speak. If someone is afraid to go through a door, then just going through in front of them may not be enough. At some level they have to want it.

Also, "Teaching is about empowering students, and Warcraft has taught me that there is a difference between being powerful and feeling powerful." Students want to feel powerful and educated and important. Many times they don't care if they really are powerful, educated or important. How do I know this? Cheating. Not just classroom cheating, but at anything including video games. Many people want to "feel" successful and powerful. They don't care if they actually are. The illusion is good enough for most people. My students would rather be dumb with straight A's then smart with all D's.