Gartner Says 80 Percent of Active Internet Users Will Have A “Second Life” in the Virtual World by the End of 2011

MMO’s and Virtual Worlds has finally drawn the attention of Gartner Research. They have just posted a white paper about the future of virtual worlds. This is evidence that these worlds are becoming even more mainstream and that others are starting to see the potential that those in education have already realized are potential uses for these new technologies.

Gartner Says 80 Percent of Active Internet Users Will Have A “Second Life” in the Virtual World by the End of 2011

Gartner has identified five laws for companies entering these spaces:

1. Virtual worlds are not games, but neither are they a parallel universe (yet)
   
2. Behind every avatar is a real person
   
3. Be relevant and add value
   
4. Understand and contain the downside
   
5. This is a long haul
   

These laws are just as applicable to education users as businesses. Go to the link above and read the full article on Gartner’s research.