Students of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University no longer have to wait for their teaching hotel to be completed before they get training. They can practice their skills at its online virtual hotel. The university is the first in Hong Kong to develop a virtual campus, as well as two hotels on an island in Second Life, a virtual space that allows real-time interactions, for teaching purposes. "Our intention is to help students better prepare for their placement, so they can apply the theoretical knowledge learnt in class in real-life situations," said Paul Penfold, the manager for educational development who put forward the idea. The project was launched in the summer in time for orientation day and was well received. The school then started to build more infrastructure on its island. Around 300 to 400 students have used the virtual world in class since January. Last month, a Samsung Digital Lab for Hospitality Technology was added onto the virtual campus.