Experiential learning is defined as learning in which the learner is in direct contact with the reality being studied, as opposed to learning in which the learner is reading or hearing about or discussing the reality. Experiential learning is often referred to as involving “hands-on experience.”

If a distributed learning site is engaging students in an experience of learning, as in practicing a foreign language (hearing, speaking, and being understood), the activity combines experiential learning and distributed learning.

Being in direct touch with something may involve directly observing it without further intervention, or it may involve interaction of some kind. For example, in a science laboratory the inquirer may want to control the conditions to measure precisely how the object of study reacts when treated differently. In ...