Remote laboratories extending access to science and engineering curricular

This paper draws on research, development, and deployment of remote laboratories undertaken by the authors since 2000. They jointly worked on the PEARL project (http://iet.open.ac.uk/pearl/) from 2000 to 2003 and have worked on further projects within their own institutions (the Open University, United Kingdom, and the University of Porto, Portugal, respectively) since then. The paper begins with a statement of the rationale for remote experiments, then offers a review of past work of the authors and highlights the key lessons for remote labs drawn from this. These lessons include 1) the importance of removing accessibility barriers, 2) the importance of a pedagogic strategy, 3) evaluation of pedagogic effectiveness, 4) the ease of automation or remote control, and 5) learning objectives and design decisions. The paper then discusses key topics including assessment issues, instructional design, pedagogical strategies, relations to industry, and cost benefits. A conclusion summarizes key points from the paper within a review of the current status of remote labs in education

Improving the use of remote laboratories. The case of VISIR at Universidad Nacional de Rosario

The present work originates in the Project "Educational Modules for Electric and Electronic Circuits Theory and Practice following an Inquiry-based Teaching and Learning Methodology supported by VISIR", carried out with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme. Remote labs can provide a framework where physical experiments can be developed for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Although remote labs have been in use for over a decade now in several countries and levels of education, their use is not yet being generalized in Latin America. Through the VISIR+ International Cooperation Project from the Erasmus+ Programme, five higher education institutions from Latin America have incorporated de VISIR remote lab in order to carry out experiments with electric and electronic circuits. In the present work, the results of the study developed at Universidad Nacional de Rosario within the framework of the aforementioned project are shown.This work was carried out with the economic support of the European Commission through Project 561735-EPP-12015-1-PTEPPKA2-CBHE-JP and by Universidad Nacional de Rosario, through Project PID 1ING505.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The development of a remote laboratory for distance learning at Loughborough University

The increasing deployment of photovoltaic systems requires large numbers of skilled engineers with a greater understanding of all aspects of PV technology both theoretical and practical. Developing experimental rigs at universities is expensive and limited to students physically attending the university. One recent approach to increase access to laboratories is the development of remote experiments. Here students can control real experimental equipment using a visual interface via the Internet. In this paper we explore the development of a photovoltaic laboratory to enable users to access and remotely control experimental equipment based at Loughborough University from anywhere in the world

Analysis of a thermal system through remote laboratories

This paper describes the experiences using remote laboratories for thorough analysis of a thermal system, including disturbances. Remote laboratories for education in subjects of control, is a common resorted method, used by universities. This method is applied to offer a flexible service in schedules so as to obtain greater and better results of available resources. Remote laboratories have been used for controlling physical devices remotely. Furthermore, remote labs have been used for transfer function identification of real equipment. Nevertheless, remote analyses of disturbances have not been done. The aim of this contribution is thereby to apply the experience of remote laboratories in the study of disturbances. Some experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness in using remote laboratories for complete analysis of a thermal system. Considering the remote access to thermal system, “Sistema de Laboratorios a Distancia” (SLD) was used

Development of E-learning in higher education and future directions

The present paper is based on the work of the ‘Future of E-Learning Group’, a constituent of the EUNIS E-Learning task Force. The group has set up a number of tasks to fulfill its role, one of which, is seeking and disseminating information on the development of e-learning with a view to ensuring the right guide is provided for progress into the future. In our work to date, in this era of globalization, we question the ability of present university systems to respond adequately and appropriately to complex demands of an Information Economy. There’s increasing involvement of private sector in higher education. The effects on future learning on the use of varying tools as well as the design of competency-based performance in e-learning have been reported (Wolrery et al, 2000; Sluijsmans et al, 2006). Several multimedia learning systems are being developed for use as future interactive educational tools (Low et al, 2003). New thinking is required for the new relationships that are being developed between creative subjects and technology when we consider the nature of universities in their present state of existence as public sector institutions. The university of the future can be perceived as a setup, based on international trade in educational services, with universities fulfilling the functions of licensing, quality assurance and cultural custodianship. The pressent paper discusses some of these issues and reports on the future directions of e-learning as they relate to higher education

A Clean Energy Roadmap: Forging the Path Ahead

Calls for better-aligned state policies, reduced market uncertainty, expanded power grid access, interagency and cross-sector collaboration, and a robust research-to-commercialization pipeline to boost investment in clean energy innovations and new firms

Opinion piece: non-traditional practical work for traditional campuses

Traditional practical work for higher education in STEM subjects is under pressure from rising student numbers and adesired increase in active learning. Investing in more buildings and staff is financially challenging, while stretching existing resources affects outcomes, health, and participation. A more pragmatic approach is to embrace a less instrumentalist view of practical work in physical spaces and instead adopt a critical post-humanist approach which mixes both humanity and technology to achieve a sum greater than the parts, not bound by the limits of either. We share the experiences of leading UK exponents of non-traditional laboratories in the four main categories of simulation, virtual laboratories, real-asynchronous, and real- synchronous activities, as well as experts in scaling digital education initiatives for university-wide adoption. We foreshadow opportunities, challenges and potential solutions to increasing the opportunity for active learning by students studying at traditional campuses, via the complementary addition of non-traditional practical work

Innovating Pedagogy 2015: Open University Innovation Report 4

This series of reports explores new forms of teaching, learning and assessment for an interactive world, to guide teachers and policy makers in productive innovation. This fourth report proposes ten innovations that are already in currency but have not yet had a profound influence on education. To produce it, a group of academics at the Institute of Educational Technology in The Open University collaborated with researchers from the Center for Technology in Learning at SRI International. We proposed a long list of new educational terms, theories, and practices. We then pared these down to ten that have the potential to provoke major shifts in educational practice, particularly in post-school education. Lastly, we drew on published and unpublished writings to compile the ten sketches of new pedagogies that might transform education. These are summarised below in an approximate order of immediacy and timescale to widespread implementation