Virtual and real laboratory for optical devices course in teaching telecommunications engineering

We describe the design and implementation of a laboratory with virtual and real exercises for optical devices course. We have introduced such a laboratory in teaching telecommunications engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The laboratory complements the optional theoretical optical devices course of forty-eight (48) hours that we offer to the students of the next-to-last 8^th semester of the aforementioned career. A combination of virtual and real exercises, and remote access to some real exercises allow us to provide effective laboratory training to a large number of students with limited quantity of real laboratory equipment.