2007 ASEE Southeast Section Conference Distance Education: Remote Labs Environment

Abstract – Since the invention of the Internet, research for [capable] virtual lab experiments has been the target of higher education’s distance learning research; however, the very nature of real experimentation (real elements and real instrumentation) was not possible or missing from much of the acclaimed virtual lab experiments. Nonetheless, in the past decade or so, countless scholarly writings asserted the availability of [real] or virtual laboratories that mimic real laboratory experimentations. Within these virtual experiments’ infrastructures, the elements of real experimentation- in comparison to conventional laboratories were far distant from constructing real experimentations online. Such a lack of real experimentation-- over the Internet, gave birth to an authentic rise beyond the restrictions of the antiquated virtual laboratories [4-7]. The birth of Remote Labs Environment (RLE) at the Centre of Advanced Distance Education Technologies (CADET), a few years ago, carries with it a world of possibilities and pioneering computing technologies. Therefore, this article conducts a survey of students ’ perception of on-line (virtual) labs and in comparison to real labs. The results are analyzed and discussed to put forth an opportunity to learn about a new technology that might change how students conduct experiments, virtually