In the age of GPS and iPad it can be tempting to look past the traditional forms of ground-based radio navigation like VOR in favor of direct-to navigation and moving map displays. It's important you still take the time to understand how to use these systems since VORs serve an important role in the national airspace system and can provide a reliable source of backup navigation.

we finally have at-home flight simulation real enough to provide tangible benefits to those rusty pilots who want to get current and stay current. This realism does come with a warning: unstructured or “game” flying can detract from your actual flight lessons or skill set.

Judge your improvement on the quality of your “bad” landings.  And practice under a variety of conditions (wind, configuration, time of day, etc.) to better hone your visual cues and mastery of the airplane. A safety pilot or instructor may see elements not as obvious to the pilot flying.