Synchronous Collaboration of Virtual and Remote Laboratories

Virtual and remote laboratories (VRLs) are e-learning resources which 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. Thus, the integration of learning environments in the form of VRLs inside collaborative learning spaces is strongly desired. Considering these facts, the authors of this document present an original approach which enables user to share practical experiences while they work collaboratively through the Internet. This practical experimentation is based on VRLs, which have been integrated inside a synchronous collaborative e-learning framework. This article describes the main features of this system and its successful application for science and engineering subjects. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 20: 124-136, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.20380