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 construct...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Torre Cubillo, Luis de la, Heradio Gil, Rubén, Jara, Carlos A., Sanchez, Jose, Dormido Canto, Sebastián, Torres, Fernando, Candelas, Francisco A.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Institución:Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Repositorio:e-spacio. Repositorio Institucional de la UNED
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:e-spacio.uned.es:20.500.14468/26966
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14468/26966
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:12 Matemáticas::1203 Ciencia de los ordenadores ::1203.17 Informática
Collaborative learning tools
educational technology
e-learning
virtual and remote laboratories
Descripción
Sumario: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.