Netrepreneur Simulation: The Development of Realism in Virtual E-Entrepreneurship Learning

Abstract

Entrepreneurship, or the move towards self-reliance, is increasingly seen as an important driver of economic growth and development in the UK. Enterprise education is seen as an expedient means of increasing both the number and quality of entrepreneurs. However, the nature, content, and relevance of entrepreneurship education have been subject to increasing scrutiny. There has been a growing interest in the process by which practitioners learn and the creation of entrepreneurial learning environments that emulate practitioner learning. The need to incorporate realism in educational requirements through a sense of presence experienced by learners has seen an increase in the use of virtual learning contexts. This chapter reviews the pedagogic requirements of entrepreneurial education within one specific context of e-commerce. Netrepreneur simulates the initial start-up phases of e-business creation and, through the modelling and electronic simulation of the e-commerce environment, it aims to create a holistic understanding of the entrepreneurial process as well as encouraging participants to learn by doing. This chapter documents the underpinning objectives of design conceptualisation and the integration of the real and virtual worlds within system development. The later section of the chapter reports on the user survey responses to Netrepreneur, which demonstrates a strong sense of presence experienced by participants. The sense of presence experienced by learners in a virtual environment can be considered to be a key feature in ensuring the efficacy of learning and the following transfer of knowledge and skills from the learning context to the “real world.”