I can see an immersive virtual world being amazing for encouraging curiosity. This world, the information stored within it, and the humans who frequent it, would attempt to encapsulate all human knowledge. Sound familiar?

We already have such a world - it is the Web. And we know it is a mess, a time sink, and a minefield. However, with focused effort, it does function as an amazing learning environment.

Unfortunately, it is not a suitable alternative to school yet. Telling kids to drop out of school and hit the 'Net instead is most likely a bad idea.

Perhaps the future role of Teachers, will be to function as Guides in this virtual world of information. Most awesome field trip ever!