Laboratory lesson plans: Opportunities created by remote laboratories

Over the last decade remote laboratories have emerged as valuable educational resources, providing the potential for improved educational outcomes, student flexibility, richer laboratory experiences, and cross-institutional resource sharing. While there has been increasing attention given to the pedagogy that underpins the use of remote labs, the focus on the design of the lessons that take advantage of remote laboratories has been much more limited. In this paper it is argued that remote laboratories provide an exciting opportunity to provide system-supported adaptation. In particular, because the interactions with the equipment are now mediated through software, it becomes possible to monitor these interactions, as well as the state of the apparatus, and use this to provide guidance to the student. The paper discusses the opportunities that are created, the requirements this places on the design of remote laboratory systems, and preliminary work on implementing such a system that has highlighted potential challenges.