Virtual world environments such as Second Life have immense potential, providing a shared and interactive space where groups of people can meet and work together in real time, regardless of their physical location.

The graphical interface and three-dimensional platform of virtual environments allows people to interact easily and cost-effectively in a form that might be expensive or even risky in the real world. Almost anything is possible, provided you have the funds, imagination and the technical expertise.

So it comes as no surprise that the business and leisure sectors are making increasing use of virtual worlds. For example, organisations from global technology firms to hotels have set up islands on Second Life to facilitate collaborative product development, problem solving, recruitment, training and customer feedback.

Virtual worlds also have the potential to enhance and enrich education. Such technologies can bring learning to life in a way that is not readily matched by other digital media.

For example, virtual environments can offer students a vibrant, fully immersive location where they can meet each other and their teachers to receive lessons, undertake projects and present work. Second Life and similar platforms also provide a format for students to talk to people they would rarely have the chance to encounter in person, such as senior business leaders.

Virtual worlds provide an inclusive and accessible environment for work-related learning, enabling students to work on genuine business problems under the guidance of an industry supervisor. The platform is ideally suited to simulation-based learning, something particularly relevant to science and technology-based subjects such as IT.

Simulation-based learning allows students to experiment, model and test new systems without having to worry about potential faults. Virtual worlds also engage young people and reflect how such individuals now communicate with each other.

New graduates have grown up with technology and social computing sites such as YouTube and Facebook, and the Web 2.0 phenomenon of user-generated content is helping to transform how people maintain social networks and share information.

Sector skills council e-Skills UK’s latest research into future trends in IT has revealed that the “digital native” generation responds best to a flexible and collaborative approach to education ­ something virtual worlds are well-placed to support.

In many ways virtual world environments are still in their infancy. The real potential, benefits and limitations of use are still emerging and there remains a number of obstacles in terms of use in education.

For example, users appear in Second Life in the guise of a virtual avatar identified by a pseudonym. These rules can make it difficult for teachers and lecturers to get to know individuals and their educational needs, particularly if the virtual world environment is not complemented by traditional face-to-face learning.

It can take time for organisations and individual users to get to grips with the technology, and costs can rise steeply if you choose to buy and develop your own island. However, such issues will be resolved over time.

As the sector skills council for IT and telecoms, e-Skills UK is committed to making the most of new technologies to enhance our activities and add value for our customers and stakeholders.

We were fortunate in being able to use IBM’s Second Life facilities to run our special event for employers and university students ­ – see 'Uniting employers and students through virtual worlds' below.

The event provided a glimpse into the potential of virtual world environ ments. And in 2008 we will be running a virtual careers fair as part of the new Revitalise IT programme, which is a major initiative to transform the attitudes of young people to IT-related education and careers.

The fair will bring school and college students together with employers and universities running technology-based courses. We will also be back with more IT Management for Business (ITMB) events on Second Life.