Suitability and implementation of a WebLab in engineering

This paper centers on WebLab technology. After a brief introduction, it discusses the academic suitability under Professor Soysal´s prism. The different strategies for implementing WebLabs are classified and a new one included. This new proposal is based on microservers and considers WebLabs as just another intranet of the university. The authors advocate that WebLabs should come out of the laboratories and be assumed by the regular computing services offered by the university. The three WebLabs developed at the University of Deusto are also introduced and analyzed. Finally the paper finishes with the conclusions and with future lines of research