Using Second Life for Workplace Learning

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Using Second Life® for Workplace Learning: Analysis and Resources

Learning in a 3-D Virtual World

Immersive environments – such as virtual worlds and video games – have attracted attention as potential environments for work and learning. Forrester has predicted that, within five years, the 3-D Internet will be as important for work as the Web is today. Gartner has predicted that 80 percent of Internet users will be in a virtual world by 2011.

Second Life is the best known virtual world environment and has attracted a huge amount of interest from the learning community.

Thought leaders in the learning profession have described its potential enthusiastically. Although most workplace learning efforts in Second Life are in the early stages, some intriguing early-adopter implementations exist.

Second Life is one of the most important innovations in online learning today. This report, "Using Second Life® for Workplace Learning: Analysis and Resources," provides the key information you need to help evaluate the potential benefits of using this platform.

Written by Brandon Hall Research Analyst and Second Life expert, Tom Werner, this report analyzes the current practices of using Second Life for learning and provides conclusions and recommendations for adopting this technology.

This report includes the following:

An overview of this innovative technology
The advantages and disadvantages of using Second Life for learning
Workplace-related places to visit in Second Life
A summary of the existing research about Second Life
Analyst conclusions and recommendations
Resources to find out more about using Second Life for learning

This report separates reality from hype and provides clear recommendations on which training situations can best be addressed using the most popular virtual world platform, Second Life.

This report is also available through a membership to the Brandon Hall Research Library.

Download this report here.

Using Second Life® for Workplace Learning: Analysis and Resources

By Tom Werner

Published August 2008 • Download file size: 1 MB • 35 pages • $275