Virtual laboratories in (bio)chemical engineering education. Education for Chemical Engineers 5

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has largely reconfigured the learning panorama over the last decade. The Internet paves for the creation and adoption of new learning and teaching styles. It facilitates the development of additional teaching strategies, including new ways to use them for illustration, simulation, demonstration, experimentation, operation, communication, and so on. Hands-on laboratory experiments have enormous educational value, but traditional teaching laboratories are expensive and have complex logistics regarding space, staff, scheduling and safety (Selmer et al., 2007). Virtual laboratories (virtual labs) may overcome these limitations allowing the insertion of laboratory experiments in teaching at any time and the experiments can be performed from any place with internet access (Ferreira, 2004). Even though virtual labs cannot substitute hands-on laboratory experiments completely in the engineering curriculums, it has several advantages as a complementary educational tool. The Universidade do Minho is being promoting a pilot project for development of components and software agents for assistance in laboratory lessons of curricular units from Science and Technology areas. These software contents will lead to the establishment of virtual laboratories and its offer via Internet will allow a better preparation of the students as well as e-Learning education activities. The porta