Towards an Online Lab Portal for Inquiry-Based STEM Learning at School

Govaerts, Sten; Cao, Yiwei; Vozniuk, Andrii; Holzer, Adrian; Zutin, Danilo Garbi; Ruiz, Elio San Cristóbal; Bollen, Lars; Manske, Sven; Faltin, Nils; Salzmann, Christophe; Tsourlidaki, Eleftheria; Gillet, Denis

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-41175-5_25

Cited by 52 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The Go-Lab Project (Global Online Science Labs for Inquiry Learning at School) was a European collaborative project co-funded by the European Commission (Seventh Framework Programme) (Govaerts, Cao, Vozniuk, Holzer, Garbi Zutin, San Cristóbal Ruiz, et al, 2013;de Jong, Sotiriou, & Gillet, 2014). It united nineteen organizations from twelve countries, coordinated by the University of Twente (Netherlands).…”

Section: General Initiativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review

Potkonjak

Gardner

Callaghan

et al. 2016

Computers & Education

714

383

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Abstract.Within education, concepts such as distance learning, and open universities, are now becoming more widely used for teaching and learning. However, due to the nature of the subject domain, the teaching of Science, Technology, and Engineering are still relatively behind when using new technological approaches (particularly for online distance learning). The reason for this discrepancy lies in the fact that these fields often require laboratory exercises to provide effective skill acquisition and hands-on experience. Often it is difficult to make these laboratories accessible for online access. Either the real lab needs to be enabled for remote access or it needs to be replicated as a fully software-based virtual lab. We argue for the latter concept since it offers some advantages over remotely controlled real labs, which will be elaborated further in this paper.We are now seeing new emerging technologies that can overcome some of the potential difficulties in this area. These include: computer graphics, augmented reality, computational dynamics, and virtual worlds. This paper summarizes the state of the art in virtual laboratories and virtual worlds in the fields of science, technology, and engineering. The main research activity in these fields is discussed but special emphasis is put on the field of robotics due to the maturity of this area within the virtual-education community. This is not a coincidence; starting from its widely multidisciplinary character, robotics is a perfect example where all the other fields of engineering and physics can contribute. Thus, the use of virtual labs for other scientific and non-robotic engineering uses can be seen to share many of the same learning processes. This can include supporting the introduction of new concepts as part of learning about science and technology, and introducing more general engineering knowledge, through to supporting more constructive (and collaborative) education and training activities in a more complex engineering topic such as robotics. The objective of this paper is to outline this problem space in more detail and to create a valuable source of information that can help to define the starting position for future research.Key words: virtual laboratory, dynamics based virtual reality, virtual world, distance learning for engineering/STEM education, immersive education IntroductionRecently we have seen a number of new ideas appearing in the literature concerned with the future of education and in particular for the teaching of Science, Technology, and Engineering (STE 1 ). Some of these notions are novel while others are a re-imagining of existing ideas but in a new context. Technological examples most relevant for this study are: distance learning, elearning, virtual laboratories, virtual reality and virtual worlds, avatars, dynamics-based virtual systems, and the overall new concept of immersive education that integrates many of these ideas together. Many highly reputable institutions 2 have gathered around this challenging concept, withi...

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Section: General Initiativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review

Potkonjak

Gardner

Callaghan

et al. 2016

Computers & Education

714

383

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The goal of this project is to develop a portal [12] and online tools to facilitate the integration of online labs in science lessons. PD activities on the associated mock-ups have been performed with the target groups of the project, namely teachers and students from primary schools up to universities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paper or Pixel? Comparing Paper- and Tool-Based Participatory Design Approaches

Heintz

Law

Soleimani

2015

Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2015

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“…Go-Lab created an infrastructure to provide access to a set of online labs from worldwide renowned research institutions, such as ESA (European Space Agency, The Netherlands), CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research, Switzerland), etc. These online labs can be used by universities, schools, instructors and students, in order to extend regular learning activities with scientific experiments [37].…”

Section: Literature Reviewsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Model to Implement Virtual Computing Labs via Cloud Computing Services

Encalada

Sequera

2017

Symmetry

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Abstract:In recent years, we have seen a significant number of new technological ideas appearing in literature discussing the future of education. For example, E-learning, cloud computing, social networking, virtual laboratories, virtual realities, virtual worlds, massive open online courses (MOOCs), and bring your own device (BYOD) are all new concepts of immersive and global education that have emerged in educational literature. One of the greatest challenges presented to e-learning solutions is the reproduction of the benefits of an educational institution's physical laboratory. For a university without a computing lab, to obtain hands-on IT training with software, operating systems, networks, servers, storage, and cloud computing similar to that which could be received on a university campus computing lab, it is necessary to use a combination of technological tools. Such teaching tools must promote the transmission of knowledge, encourage interaction and collaboration, and ensure students obtain valuable hands-on experience. That, in turn, allows the universities to focus more on teaching and research activities than on the implementation and configuration of complex physical systems. In this article, we present a model for implementing ecosystems which allow universities to teach practical Information Technology (IT) skills. The model utilizes what is called a "social cloud", which utilizes all cloud computing services, such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Additionally, it integrates the cloud learning aspects of a MOOC and several aspects of social networking and support. Social clouds have striking benefits such as centrality, ease of use, scalability, and ubiquity, providing a superior learning environment when compared to that of a simple physical lab. The proposed model allows students to foster all the educational pillars such as learning to know, learning to be, learning to live together, and, primarily, learning to do, through hands-on IT training from a MOOCs. An aspect of the model has been verified experimentally and statistically through a course of computer operating systems.

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Towards an Online Lab Portal for Inquiry-Based STEM Learning at School

Cited by 52 publications

References 14 publications

Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review

Virtual laboratories for education in science, technology, and engineering: A review

Paper or Pixel? Comparing Paper- and Tool-Based Participatory Design Approaches

Model to Implement Virtual Computing Labs via Cloud Computing Services

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