An aspiring pilot lands a Boeing 737 in low visibility, from the comfort of an on-land base. A medical team performs a complex operation on a dummy patient, unencumbered by the high-risk context of life or death.

Engagement, consistency and cost effectiveness — there are several advantages to using simulations to enhance learning, not the least of which is that the learning sticks. Simulations are the perfect accelerator for problem solving as it inspires action through new skills, new perspectives and new collaborative behaviors.

It is a strange thing to be asked to write a guest post about mistakes. Should I be insulted? Is having failure as your recognized expertise a good thing? Oh well, I’ve come to terms with the importance of mistakes.

Vic Vuchic is an Associate Program Officer at the Hewlett Foundation and one very cool individual. I had the good fortune to meet him in his pre-Hewlett days through Stanford University’s program where we eventually became Master’s Project partners (we built a ‘tamagotchi’-like agent to build financial literacy among youth – in hindsight, we should have targeted bankers!)