Exploring the Contribution of Virtual Worlds to Learning in Organizations

Despite the growing interest of business executives, there is limited academic research on the contributions of virtual worlds to learning in organizations. We address this limitation by using a recently developed typology of virtual world capabilities to investigate the potential contributions of virtual worlds to learning in organizations. Recognizing that learning occurs at three levels within the organization, we proceed to develop a theoretical framework that relates virtual world capabilities to learning at each level. Our research contributes to the field by integrating multiple theoretically anchored dimensions and offering a framework that should serve as a building block for research on, and use of, virtual worlds in learning interventions in organizational settings.