Self-guided Exploration of Virtual Learning Spaces

The moment of truth for a learner occurs when the acquired knowledge and trained skill set has to be recalled, practised and performed outside of the safe environment we find in the classroom. Reality does not provide the range of experimental set-ups where the experiment serves the demonstration of learnt theory but includes all the side effects that influence the outcome. The guidelines in textbooks, or instructions in the classroom, are replaced with an unsupervised environment where decisions include the selection of tools and methods as well as further attributes like sequences, colleagues, safety, resources, effectiveness or efficiency. In a real-world setting, failures can result in serious consequences; there is no reset button or option to go back in time for another run.