Scottish Researchers Vouch for Online Games

Here's a news story that made the rounds on Monday and Tuesday. I read it first via Next-gen and they picked up the story from an article in the Scotsman.

Gamepolitics.com picked up the story on here, along with a few other blogs. The study found that online multi-player games help kids understand diversity and allow them the opportunity to experience situations and peer relationships outside of their normal social environment.

My former Godson experienced these benefits from Runescape and other games as well. He was picked on in school and because of his heart condition could not play sports at the same level as others. Runescape and other games provided him the opportunity to be an equal and experience social interactions not possible in his social situation.

How can this equalization be useful in libraries? Can this diversity help in information literacy? What happens to the social dynamic of a classroom when they go online? Are the students equalized or do the physical world's social class apply?