Rationale
In this stage trainees are actually given the opportunity to get handson
experience. Trainees ought to
leave with the feeling of having learned something usable. Trainer should choose simple sample
Virtual Communities that can be easily and successfully explored, even by inexperienced people; they
ought to offer all the typical features and tools usually provided by Virtual Communities. They also
ought to be visually appealing and intellectually stimulating. The actual Virtual Communities
exploration may be carried out either individually or in pairs. Technologically poorer trainees may
initially be guided by trainer or by quite expert trainees. Trainer has to encourage all trainees to try
things out on their own. If trainees do not try things out immediately, the chances are they will never
be able to do so. It may be difficult to pull trainees away from their exploration, once they start, so
trainer ought to keep an eye on time and gently lead trainees to the next task, teaching exploitation of Virtual Communities. For this second task Trainer has to take extra care with group formation, if she
wants groups to produce useful outcomes. Groups may lack ideas, or they may resort to very trivial or
over-trodden ones. It is trainer responsibility to supervise group work in order to stimulate, suggest, or
encourage.