Learning Services

Dr. Srinivas Padmanabhuni

I think this only reinforces my point about what the future is going to be.  I have always been saying that the future is about being able to leverage technologies related to virtual reality and also technologies which can enable more flexibility, contextualization and personalization. So, in that perspective the Second Life example is pretty real today. 

Today, if you look at the way Second Life or any of these virtual reality kind of environments are evolving, , there are many projects underway in different parts of the world which are equivalents of Second Life. These are 3D kind of environments where we can give mechanisms for people to assume virtual roles, enact the experiences, record them, interact with peers on the platform of virtual reality -- be it in a classroom context or a battlefield context.  So, it is real. 

Can we reap maximum benefits out of it? I think we can, given the kind of challenges  like  capturing experiential stuff to enable faster knowledge delivery, whether it is in a maintenance project or whether it is the knowledge captured in terms of interactions with clients – for instance the behavioral issues involved in such kind of requirements. I think virtual reality is a great enabler for such experiential and anecdotal kind of knowledge and experience to be captured and used. 

Not only that, the other benefit which a platform like Second Life gives is that it can be enriched collaboratively. So you can capture one experience and then another person can add to the experience or refine it, can correct it. The whole world can edit your experience, can transform it and make it richer. Not only that, it is also possible to enable a collaboration platform for people to interact and chat, which can be an interactive knowledge source, because the interactions themselves add a lot of value to the actual work you did. So it is real and in my view is a must investment for any corporate learning scenario, where knowledge-intensive tasks are the order of the day.

Regarding other technologies like Intelligence Agents, I think they are aiding in what I was saying – the need for contextualization, personalization, information for use anytime and anywhere. But  with the flexibility of the user  finding  a personal aid who is like an Intelligence Agent who can do that task, it is basically about how will he be guided as to what is right? I think that is where Intelligence Agents can solve your problem. So, I think you have actually answered the concern which was raised, and I would like to thank you for the suggestion.

Infosys’ Learning Services recently conducted a panel discussion  on the topic  “ The new world of Learning “. We are running a series of questions that the audience posed. The panelists were - Srikantan Moorthy, Vice President and Head - Education and Research; Dr. Srinivas Padmanabhuni, Principal Researcher- SETLabs and  Kaiser Masood, Principal Consultant, Infosys Leadership Institute.

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