Chief Learning Officer - August 2007 - (Page 16)

trends The Application of Virtual Worlds for Learning Nick van Dam, Ph.D. There is a growing interest in building internal 3-D virtual campuses as part of a virtual world to support learning and development. Virtual worlds have become increasingly popular around the world. Millions of people from all demographic backgrounds meet daily in one or more of the 150-plus (and growing) virtual worlds. Many companies are taking virtual worlds seriously, advertising products and services, building virtual campuses, communicating with employees and setting up virtual retail stores at a rapid pace. Well-designed virtual worlds are built on a synthesis of Web 2.0 technologies, including voice-over Internet protocol, chat, blogs, wikis, simulation applications, application sharing, advanced search capabilities and nested Internet browsers that connect to the 3-D world via XML. Predecessors of today’s virtual worlds were computer games such as “The Sims,” which moved online and became massive, multiplayer games. The main purpose for virtual worlds shifted from gaming to social networking and exploration. In the virtual world, people create a life as a different person, meet and socialize with new friends from all around the world, and they visit and explore new places. Many enterprises have created their own virtual worlds for their customers. Virtual Magic Kingdom is a virtual re-creation of Disney’s theme parks. At Coca-Cola’s Coke Studios, teens can create customized music mixes in a virtual music studio. Also, MTV is going digital with Virtual Laguna Beach. There is a growing interest in building internal 3-D virtual campuses as part of a virtual world to support learning and development. The applications include: 2. Virtual worlds can provide a powerful environment to get to know the enterprise and the people. New-hire orientation programs can provide online settings in which you can visit different company facilities, meet with business leaders, watch videos of corporate meetings, explore achievements and experiences with different people, take a look at the latest advertising campaign and meet fellow new hires to launch a community. 3. Virtual worlds have been great for people who like to build social networks and cocreate content. Many Internet trends merge and collide in 3-D virtual worlds. The success of MySpace, YouTube, Facebook and Blogger has shown there is a huge interest in building communities and sharing information. Additionally, millions have become co-creators of (open-source) software, online dictionaries and other subject areas (using wikis and blogs). Internal corporate virtual worlds likely will become part of the next generation of learning and knowledge management infrastructure. 4. Internal corporate virtual worlds can include a virtual campus, where employees go to take online learning, collaborate in live virtual classrooms, take online assessments, socialize with colleagues and share knowledge. Also, through the 3-D user interface, more advanced training can be offered. 5. Virtual worlds can be used to support virtual project assignments, which others in the virtual world can review and critique. Such assignments could include designing a new information system, making recommendations for an enhanced business process or offering a proposal for new communication collateral. This would provide people with action learning experiences in a global environment. The current online environment and potential applications of virtual worlds for learning and development are very exciting and promising — particularly if you keep in mind that the new generation joining the workforce has grown up with virtual worlds. It’s up to CLO leadership to turn this promise into reality. August 2007 I www.clomedia.com I Chief Learning Officer 16 Nick van Dam, Ph.D., is the global chief learning officer for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. He is founder of the e-Learning For Kids Foundation. He can be reached at editor@clomedia.com. 1. Virtual worlds allow employees to meet virtually with colleagues and subject-matter experts, exchange information, collaborate and share new ideas. This can provide people with informal learning opportunities and support the way they learn the best: from other people. http://www.clomedia.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Chief Learning Officer - August 2007

Chief Learning Officer - August 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.