Business experience at the touch of a button

Citation

(2001), "Business experience at the touch of a button", Education + Training, Vol. 43 No. 8/9. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2001.00443hab.013

Business experience at the touch of a button

Business experience at the touch of a buttonKeywords: Virtual reality, Training, Business

Students in the west of England are being given the chance to experience business and commerce without leaving the classroom, thanks to an initiative set up through a consortium of nine local education authorities. Third Dimension, a computer-graphics specialist, has recreated Whitbread's Marriott Hotel in Swindon in minute detail on to broadband technology to provide a virtual learning site for students studying for GNVQs. Instead of actually visiting the hotel, students can enter a 3D virtual world through their PC and become an employee on screen, meeting the manager and staff, learning how the hotel is run as a business, visiting rooms and other hotel facilities and developing knowledge of hospitality and catering.

The "Enjoy! V-learning" initiative is being tested at a Wiltshire school and should eventually be available to all 165 secondary schools connected to the South-West Grid for Learning. This is a consortium set up as part of the Government's National Grid for Learning project, to provide high-speed access to Internet services and learning content through the region. Vince Marriott, design and technology adviser for Wiltshire local education authority, said: "There is a real need for students to gain industrial experience, but often the logistics of setting up visits to companies can prove difficult. Materials such as Enjoy! V-learning are designed to prepare students for, and to supplement real visits, rather than replace them.What we have created is an incredibly realistic learning experience. It has the attraction of a computer game, but is highly educational and task orientated."