Providing Collaborative Support to Virtual and Remote Laboratories

Virtual and remote laboratories (VRLs) are e-learning resources that enhance the accessibility of experimental setups providing a distance teaching framework which meets the student's hands-on learning needs. In addition, online collaborative communication represents a practical and a constructivist method to transmit the knowledge and experience from the teacher to students, overcoming physical distance and isolation. This paper describes the extension of two open source tools: (1) the learning management system Moodle, and (2) the tool to create VRLs Easy Java Simulations (EJS). Our extension provides: (1) synchronous collaborative support to any VRL developed with EJS (i.e., any existing VRL written in EJS can be automatically converted into a collaborative lab with no cost), and (2) support to deploy synchronous collaborative VRLs into Moodle. Using our approach students and/or teachers can invite other users enrolled in a Moodle course to a real-time collaborative experimental session, sharing and/or supervising experiences at the same time they practice and explore experiments using VRLs.This work was supported by the Spanish Government under the CICYT Project DPI2007-61068 and the GITE grant of the Technology and Educational Innovation Vice-President Office of the University of Alicante

To enhance collaborative learning and practice network knowledge with a virtualization laboratory and online synchronous discussion

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internatinal License.Recently, various computer networking courses have included additional laboratory classes in order to enhance students' learning achievement. However, these classes need to establish a suitable laboratory where each student can connect network devices to configure and test functions within different network topologies. In this case, the Linux operating system can be used to operate network devices and the virtualization technique can include multiple OSs for supporting a significant number of students. In previous research, the virtualization application was successfully applied in a laboratory, but focused only on individual assignments. The present study extends previous research by designing the Networking Virtualization-Based Laboratory (NVBLab), which requires collaborative learning among the experimental students. The students were divided into an experimental group and a control group for the experiment. The experimental group performed their laboratory assignments using NVBLab, whereas the control group completed them on virtual machines (VMs) that were installed on their personal computers. Moreover, students using NVBLab were provided with an online synchronous discussion (OSD) feature that enabled them to communicate with others. The laboratory assignments were divided into two parts: Basic Labs and Advanced Labs. The results show that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in two Advanced Labs and the post-test after Advanced Labs. Furthermore, the experimental group's activities were better than those of the control group based on the total average of the command count per laboratory. Finally, the findings of the interviews and questionnaires with the experimental group reveal that NVBLab was helpful during and after laboratory class

A bot spooler architecture to integrate virtual worlds with e-learning management systems for corporate training

Joining efforts of academic and corporate teams, we developed an integration architecture - MULTIS - that enables corporate e-learning managers to use a Learning Management System (LMS) for management of educational activities in virtual worlds. This architecture was then implemented for the Formare LMS. In this paper we present this architecture and concretizations of its implementation for the Second Life Grid/OpenSimulator virtual world platforms. Current systems are focused on activities managed by individual trainers, rather than groups of trainers and large numbers of trainees: they focus on providing the LMS with information about educational activities taking place in a virtual world and/or being able to access within the virtual world some of the information stored in the LMS, and disregard the streamlining of activity setup and data collection in multi-trainer contexts, among other administrative issues. This architecture aims to overcome the limitations of existing systems for organizational management of corporate e-learning activities.Portugal Telecom Inovação (atualmente, Altice Labs

Remote experimentation network - yielding an inter-university peer-to-peer e-service

The goal of this paper is to discuss the benefits and challenges of yielding an inter-continental network of remote laboratories supported and used by both European and Latin American Institutions of Higher Education. Since remote experimentation, understood as the ability to carry out real-world experiments through a simple web browser, is already a proven solution for the educational community as a supplement to on-site practical lab work (and in some cases, namely for distance learning courses, a replacement to that work), the purpose is not to discuss its technical, pedagogical, or economical strengths, but rather to raise and try to answer some questions about the underlying benefits and challenges of establishing a peer-to-peer network of remote labs. Ultimately, we regard such a network as a constructive mechanism to help students gain the working and social skills often valued by multinational/global companies, while also providing awareness of local cultural aspects

Developing research degrees online

Research degrees have been changing radically in the last twenty years, with an extensive body of work accumulated on improving the practice of research degrees and on developing skills for independent researchers. However, most of this work focuses on full-time residential research degrees, and little attention has been paid to part-time research degrees at a distance. This paper presents a novel research degree, the Virtual MPhil in Computing, offered by The Open University (UK), supported by a blend of technologies, and designed to address this gap. We discuss the support it provides for the development of student community, research dialogue and progress monitoring of distance research students

“I Did Not Sign Up For This”: Student Experiences of the Rapid Shift from In-person to Emergency Virtual Remote Learning During the COVID Pandemic

Abstract Objectives: The main objective of this study was to explore students’ experiences of the emergency virtual remote teaching, which was implemented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: 439 students enrolled at a community college in Canada responded to a survey that had Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Anderson’s model for online learning was used as an analytic lens to gain insight on student experiences. Descriptive statistics were used to make meaning of the data. Thematic analysis was done on student responses to open-ended questions. Results: Findings were organized according to Anderson’s six factors in online teaching, namely: (a) Independent Study; (b) Peer, Family, & Professional Support; (c) Structured Learning Resources; (d) Community of Inquiry; (e) Communication; and (f) Paced, Collaborative Learning. The study revealed both challenges and opportunities that students experienced during their transition to emergency virtual remote learning. Conclusions: The invitation to students to share what worked—and what didn’t—yielded a wealth of specific suggestions for engaging students, promoting accountability, and supporting collaborative learning. Implication for Practice: This study looked past anticipated pressure points to reveal critical teaching factors that challenge—or enable—students as they transition to emergency virtual remote teaching. Post-secondary instructors would be well served to consider how they promote self-efficacy, provide access to supports, fashion an online learning environment, develop community, communicate expectations, and encourage collaboration

EOLES Course – Five Years of Remote Learning and Experimenting

The EOLES (Electronics and Optics e-Learning for Embedded Systems) course consists of a 3rd year Bachelor degree that relies exclusively on e-learning and remote laboratories, developed as the result of an EU funded ERASMUS+ project, involving 15 institutions from four European and three North African countries and concluded in 2015. This paper presents an overview and overall results for this initial period and a more detailed analysis of the Digital Systems Teaching Unit contents, pedagogical approach, grading methodology and results. The focus is on the unit specific characteristics and features, student and teacher experiences and the methodologies that were applied to enhance learning success. The Teaching Unit expositive material is provided as the student progresses, with progressive unlocking of content depending timeline and automatic quizzes results. Grading is divided between weekly assignments, an online exam at the end of each TU and a final exam at the end of the academic year. In short, students are allowed and encouraged to adjust their learning rhythm within the limits allowed by time restraints and evaluation criteria. The developed course was accredited as a specialization year in most partner institutions and has been running non-stop since then, mainly with students from North African institutions. Although no longer supported by an EU project, the course is a good example of sustainability as it already had 4 effective editions with successful approval rates and always with many more candidates than available vacancies.ERASMUS+info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

EOLES Course, 4 years and going…results and experiences

The EOLES (Electronics and Optics e-Learning for Embedded Systems) course consists of a 3rd year Bachelor degree that relies exclusively on e-learning and remote laboratories, developed as the result of an EU funded ERASMUS+ project, involving 15 institutions from four European and three North African countries and concluded in 2015. The developed course was accredited as a specialization year in most partner institutions and has been running non-stop since then, mainly with students from North African institutions. Although no longer supported by an EU project, the course is a good example of sustainability as it already had 4 effective editions with successful approval rates and always with many more candidates than available vacancies. This paper presents an overview and overall results for this initial period and a more detailed analysis of the Digital Systems Teaching Unit. The focus is on the course specific characteristics and features, student and teacher experiences and the methodologies that were applied to enhance learning results. Although being a fully online course, several synchronous activities and communication tools are included in the methodology to enhance student and teacher iteration and also to provide an impartial grading process, as required for accreditation. The course expositive material is provided as the student progresses, with progressive unlocking of content depending on each teaching unit timeline, and automatic quizzes results. In short, students are allowed and encouraged to adjust their learning rhythm within the limits allowed by time restraints and evaluation criteria.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

EOLES Course, 4 years and going…results and experiences

The EOLES (Electronics and Optics e-Learning for Embedded Systems) course consists of a 3rd year Bachelor degree that relies exclusively on e-learning and remote laboratories, developed as the result of an EU funded ERASMUS+ project, involving 15 institutions from four European and three North African countries and concluded in 2015. The developed course was accredited as a specialization year in most partner institutions and has been running non-stop since then, mainly with students from North African institutions. Although no longer supported by an EU project, the course is a good example of sustainability as it already had 4 effective editions with successful approval rates and always with many more candidates than available vacancies. This paper presents an overview and overall results for this initial period and a more detailed analysis of the Digital Systems Teaching Unit. The focus is on the course specific characteristics and features, student and teacher experiences and the methodologies that were applied to enhance learning results. Although being a fully online course, several synchronous activities and communication tools are included in the methodology to enhance student and teacher iteration and also to provide an impartial grading process, as required for accreditation. The course expositive material is provided as the student progresses, with progressive unlocking of content depending on each teaching unit timeline, and automatic quizzes results. In short, students are allowed and encouraged to adjust their learning rhythm within the limits allowed by time restraints and evaluation criteria.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio