More thoughts for the future in Second Life and beyond

It being the end of the year, people are prognosticating like mad. Analysts for Second Life and virtual worlds are no exception. This time it's Gartneragain, but with a "future of education" slant. There is also a "future of virtual world economics" post, which highlights the future of education in virtual worlds, so next year will be the year of the virtual teacher. (With my teaching in Second Life hat on, I might argue it's the year of the Johnny-come-lately virtual teacher, there is a lot of education already happening in Second Life.)

In summary, the pieces on Virtual Worlds News suggest:

1. Education will be big next year

2. Second Life, World of Warcraft and Habbo Hotel (amongst others) will continue to grow

3. The usage by children/tweens will be a big growth area

Challenges are:

1. Ease of use and induction

2. Spreading platforms that can access virtual worlds

3. Interoperability

4. Globalisation

Please, go read both articles and add your comments here or there!