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Co-funded by theCommunity programmeeContentplus

15 questions & answers about LiLa

LiLa – Library of Labs

Dissemination

of Remote and Virtual Laboratories

for Natural Sciences and Engineering

May 2009 – May 2011

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1. What is LiLa?

LiLa is an acronym for ‘Library of Labs’, an initiative of eight universities and three companies, which aims at developing an integrated platform for remote experiments and virtual laboratories.

LiLa is committed to enhancing the learning experience of science and engineering students all over Europe.

LiLa is co-funded by the eContentplus programme of the European Commission.

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2. What is a remote experiment?

Experiments are performed on equipment that is controlled by

an operator in a remote location via the internet.

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2. What is a remote experiment?

The Cambridge Reactor Weblab

The reactor – a key unit in many chemical plants – can be fed with three liquids. The reaction is monitored and controlled remotely...

... for instance, at the University of Newcastle.

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3. Why do we need remote experiments?

Many universities are challenged by large numbers of students demanding access to laboratories during their training. However, laboratory capacity is limited and scarcely extendable due to financial and other constraints. Especially, equipment for advanced or graduate students becomes more and more expensive, but is used only occasionally.

Remote experiments tackle these problems: they are accessible 24 hours per day, and might even be used without supervision. At the same time, they provide students with insights into how processes are controlled in today’s industry.

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4. What is a virtual laboratory?

A virtual laboratory uses the metaphor of a real laboratory, namely to setup a large variety of experiments from pre-designed components. These components are computer programs that either simulate physical processes or theoretical models.

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4. What is a virtual laboratory?

An example:

The friction simulator at Nano-World (University of

Basel) enables students to simulate friction phenomena

on an atomic scale.

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5. Why do we need virtual laboratories?

• Experiments can be designed for the student‘s needs.

• Experiments are easily reproducible .

• Setups are more variable than in real experiments.

• Simulations provide experiments not observable in reality.

• Real experiments might be too complex and/or expensive.

• Real experiments might be too dangerous.

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6. Why do we need LiLa?

• Remote experiments are very cost-intensive, yet seldom used to full capacity. By linking existing remote experiments & virtual labs all over Europe, LiLa will provide means for a better utilization of resources.

• LiLa will enhance a student‘s learning experience by integrating a tutoring system and traditional learning materials.

• LiLa will enable online collaboration by integrating remote experiments & virtual labs into a collaborative environment.

• LiLa will help teachers to find remote experiments and virtual labs and integrate them into their courses.

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7. What will LiLa look like?

LiLa will provide an integrated web portal enabling users to find remote experiments and virtual laboratories, gain access to them, use the accompanying tutoring system and find complementary learning materials.Moreover, LiLa is engaged in creating a 3D environment for the collaborative use of remote experiments and simulations, based on Sun Microsystems's ‘Wonderland’.

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8. How do students benefit from LiLa?

• LiLa enables students to find experiments and related material by indexing and cataloguing widespread resources.

• LiLa integrates experiments and labs from all over Europe, thus offering a wide and attractive choice of experiments.

• By providing access to remote and virtual experiments alike, LiLa allows students to easily compare results of simulations and real experiments side by side.

• LiLa enables the collaborate use of remote and virtual experiments, thus enhancing the student‘s learning experience.

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9. How will lecturers benefit from LiLa?

LiLa will assist lecturers in developing courses by providing:

• a central starting point for finding remote experiments & virtual labs.

• supplementing material.

• didactical assistance.

• a tutoring system.

• use cases.

Lecturers can:

• offer a practical and realistic experience to more students.

• share setups and materials.

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10. What are the main objectives of LiLa?

• create a technical and organizational framework for the mutual exchange of experiments across Europe.

• build a portal for access to virtual laboratories, remote experiments and other media.

• make them accessible via a retrieval system.

• exploit them with an access control and booking system.

• guide users with a tutoring system.

• integrate labs into a virtual 3D-world and provide a framework for online collaboration.

• disseminate the network across Europe.

LiLa will:

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11. What are the components of the technical architecture?

MetaMeta

Meta Meta

MetaMeta

Meta

MetaMeta

3D-World

VirtLab CVirtLab

A

VirtLab B

LAB - D

LAB - E

LAB - F

Cooperative use of

experiments and devices

Group Management & Acess Control

Content & Service Discovery Tier 2

Tier 1

Tutoring System Tier 3

Java Interface Web Browser Tier 4

MediaA

Media B Media C

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12. Who is working on LiLa?

Eight European universities and three enterprises have united to work on LiLa. Each participant offers specialised expertise in one or more of the following fields:

• content (virtual laboratories & remote experiments).

• access control andbooking systems.

• 3D modelling.

• meta data development.

• e-learning pedagogics.

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12. Who is working on LiLa?

Universität Stuttgart (Coordinator) Germany

Technische Universität Berlin Germany

Sun Microsystems Germany

Technische Universiteit Delft Netherlands

Linköpings Universitet Sweden

Universität Basel Switzerland

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Spain

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece

University of Cambridge UK

Computational Modelling Cambridge Ltd UK

MathCore Engeneering AB Sweden

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13. What are the work packages of LiLa?

Project Administration

3DVirtual World Prototype Testing&Debugging

Task Definition Interfaces Course Creation Models/Testing

Meta Data Defin. 2D & Annotation 3D Embed. Testing

Criteria Definition Technical Eval. Didactical Eval.

Dissemin. Plan Web Publ. Training Material & Embedding, Confer.

May 2009 May 2011

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14. Can others participate in LiLa?

LiLa is open for further participation. It is designed for integrating additional content – virtual laboratories and remote experiments.

LiLa will assist content providers by supplying:

• interface definitions.

• contract templates.

• ‘best practice’ documentation for curricular integration.

• standard definitions for online courses.

Interested parties are welcome to contact LiLa at any time.

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15. How can I contact LiLa?

Project Coordinator Dr. David Boehringer

boehringer@rus.uni-stuttgart.de

Technical Coordinator Dr. Thomas Richter

richter@rus.uni-stuttgart.de

Project Manager Tilmann Robbe

robbe@rus.uni-stuttgart.de

Project Website: http://www.lila-project.org