Commentary by management consultant Michael Wade on Leadership, Ethics, Management, and Life
Friday, February 26, 2010
Training and Second Life
Okay, I confess to being a traditionalist and a major skeptic, but do any of your organizations use Second Life as a training tool? [Here's a video on its potential usage.]
I take an evening Spanish class in Second Life, at the Instituto Español, which I especially enjoy. We use headphones and mics, as well as typing text on the screen to communicate. Our teacher is in Mexico, so we hear el verdadero español. The students are in the US and Canada, sitting at home in front of computers. In Second Life we usually sit around a table in a virtual classroom, but sometimes we travel to other Second Life locations like the Smithsonian Latino Museum or areas dedicated to the Canary Islands, Columbia, Puerto Vallarta, or art and literature exhibitions in Spanish. For learning a language, SL is also a great resource because it's easy to meet and converse with people from all over the world.
Dozens of colleges have their own islands in Second Life with virtual campuses that represent their real campuses, or are designed for classroom or seminar use.
Many businesses have closed islands that are accessible to employees only, which are used for training and meetings.
Second Life also seems especially well suited for trade shows. The costs of having a presence on SL can be minimal, and the community continues to grow. As the internet becomes faster and computers more powerful, virtual worlds like Second Life will become increasingly useful for a variety of purposes.
3 comments:
I take an evening Spanish class in Second Life, at the Instituto Español, which I especially enjoy. We use headphones and mics, as well as typing text on the screen to communicate. Our teacher is in Mexico, so we hear el verdadero español. The students are in the US and Canada, sitting at home in front of computers. In Second Life we usually sit around a table in a virtual classroom, but sometimes we travel to other Second Life locations like the Smithsonian Latino Museum or areas dedicated to the Canary Islands, Columbia, Puerto Vallarta, or art and literature exhibitions in Spanish. For learning a language, SL is also a great resource because it's easy to meet and converse with people from all over the world.
Dozens of colleges have their own islands in Second Life with virtual campuses that represent their real campuses, or are designed for classroom or seminar use.
Many businesses have closed islands that are accessible to employees only, which are used for training and meetings.
Second Life also seems especially well suited for trade shows. The costs of having a presence on SL can be minimal, and the community continues to grow. As the internet becomes faster and computers more powerful, virtual worlds like Second Life will become increasingly useful for a variety of purposes.
We use it for training medical students at the University of Auckland.
Ted and Andrew,
Thanks for bringing me up to speed with the modern world. I will check out Second Life as soon as I fire up my Commodore computer.
Michael
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