Exclusive: Virtual worlds don't excite staff

Peter Crush, 18 November 2008

It seems you can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Virtual Worlds learning – the technique that is supposed to sound the death-knell for old-school chalk n’ talk classrooms by beaming learners into Second Life instead – just doesn’t seem to excite staff.

Despite 70% of our sample poll of 1,116 saying they experience some form of training each year, our special poll by Harris Interactive, found a massive 35% said being in Second Life would not make any difference to whether they felt more engaged doing training, while a further 18% admitted they couldn't make up their minds. Just one per cent of our sample already participate in virtual worlds learning, and this outlook does not look like getting any better.

Nearly two-fifths of employees believed their bosses didn't know about it and wouldn't be investing in it any time soon. Ten per cent said their company did know about it but still didn't think they would invest in it. Only 5% of companies have already invested in it and 4% believed their bosses would introduce it in the near future.

Does this spell the end of Virtual Worlds Learning? See our feature on virtual worlds in the December issue of HR magazine.

[Image: developed by Forterra Systems]