Online labs simulate and teach what learners must do in traditional settings. In general, there are two types of labs. One simulates the real experiments, equipment, or procedures; the other lets learners access and control real equipment remotely. There can be numerous problems when teaching practical skills in typical labs.
Online labs can solve many of the problems. Online labs will continue to be created. Some will be of minimal value while others will effectively meet the needs of distance learners. Some questions will need to be answered:
- Can the labs of all courses, ranging from introductory to advanced, be delivered online?
- Will administrators, of post-secondary institutes or the government, require the use of online labs to save costs?
The instructional challenge is to ensure that the practical skills taught via the computer transfer to the real world. The foundation for the instructional design is the learning outcomes, which should be based on what the learner actually needs to do. Based on your learning outcomes, the design phase leads you to creating an instructional strategy that guarantees effective learning. To do this:
- Consider simulation, discovery-learning techniques, and active experimentation.
- Determine what level of skill you can achieve.
- Organize the information into small enough chunks for the students to learn successfully.
- Include some content on the potential for making mistakes.
- Include media, as needed, to enhance learning as well as to test skills.
- Determine whether testing is realistic enough and a true performance measure.
- Make the program highly interactive throughout.
Some online labs enable learners to control real equipment. Virtually controlling equipment can be challenging and may save some money. For lab tests, you can:
- have students come to campus to be tested in a live lab
- require students to write paper-based exams
- have learners complete a computer-delivered test
Articulation may be an issue. Many will find reasons to resist the technology. You can increase acceptance by involving articulation committee members in the formative evaluation. You can also gain support if a summative evaluation proves successful results.
The following computer-based resources are sometimes needed to support learners when the more common online strategies will not suffice:
- Drill and practice is a common computer-based training strategy that provides repeated opportunities to try skills or concepts learned elsewhere.
- Tutorials are programs in which the computer imitates a human tutor. In tutorials, information or concepts are presented, questions are asked, responses are judged, and feedback is provided.
- Simulations present or model the essential elements of real or imaginary situations. Ideally, simulations should approximate real systems as closely as possible. Simulations can be used for teaching many diverse skills. Students can learn by observing results and relationships or receiving specific diagnostic feedback.
- Educational games are usually decision-making activities that include rules, a goal, conditions or constraints, competition, challenge, strategies, and feedback.
- Intelligent tutoring systems attempt to mimic the “perfect instructor”. The basic requirements of intelligent tutoring systems include the ability to model the learner, track misunderstandings, and generate appropriate responses.
- Virtual reality (VR) allows people to be totally immersed in an artificial or simulated environment yet retain the feeling that the environment is real. A distinctive feature of VR is that learners are an integral part of the synthetic VR world. Users can simultaneously interact with computers in complex ways.
