Bringing Remote Labs and Mobile Learning Together

Within (remote) laboratories in Engineering Education students have the chance to do own experiments and by that gain own experiences in their learning processes. Apart from technical questions, one of the most intriguing aspects in this context is how students can document their learning process and show to others (teachers and/or other students) what they have achieved. Another aspect concerns the question of learner’s mobility during the learning process. If the laboratory can be accessed remotely, why do we constrain learners in their level of liberty by forcing them to sit in front of a fixed computer to use a location-independent environment for experimentation? Therefore, rendering this environment available for mobile devices is the logical consequence. Furthermore, integrating mobile devices into the course’s technical environment means to take a whole new approach to the teaching and learning process itself. It is especially a question of embedding mobile devices into the users’ workflow (or better “learn flow”) rather than a simple question of accessibility. The following article features an example of how remote laboratories can be linked with mobile devices and e-portfolios, thus creating a unique learning environment helping learners to document their personal learning processes and to exchange them with others while at the same time being flexible in means of time and place. This combination of topics has been realized within one subtask of the project “ELLI – Excellent Teaching and Learning in Engineering Education” at TU Dortmund University.