Training in Virtual Worlds

 

Understanding Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds provide the opportunity for a richer communication experience than email, phone, or chat. It’s as close to real human interaction as you can get. This is in part because communicating virtually “levels the playing field.” In a virtual environment, you can speak to others using a microphone or headset, or chat with instant messenger (IM). In an open virtual world like the Second Life world, users can design their avatars to look any way they want. Because of this, issues of class, race, gender, and so on are eliminated. In essence, internal and external hierarchies are eliminated.

What makes this environment different from traditional online training is that it’s almost fully immersive. Instead of ...