Designing active and experiential remote laboratories: Key factors from the perspective of teachers designing learning activities

A remote laboratory is a software and hardware tool that enables students to access real equipment located somewhere else through the Internet. The access to the equipment is just the first part, for a correct implementation, the interaction, feedback and troubleshooting is vital. The laboratories are typically deployed in universities or research centers. A key factor of remote laboratories is that once they are available through the Internet their usage can be scaled up and naturally used by students. The installation and maintenance of multifunctional remote laboratories can represent high costs, that is the reason why some institutions choose to rent the equipment for short periods of time. Thus, two or more institutions can share different equipment to reduce costs. Furthermore, this enables a sharing economy where multiple institutions provide access to their laboratories to each other, in different economic models (freely or with a cost). However, the demand identified in times of pandemic has required great efforts on the part of engineering faculties to continue training their students. The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly paralyzed universities all around the world. During the COVID- 19 lockdown, universities switched to distance teaching and canceled face-to-face education affecting the way of teaching. IT staff was urged to find alternatives to train teachers in designing diverse learning activities to meet the learning objectives. This work presents the experience of implementing a group of remote laboratories in courses related to Electronics and Electric subjects at various levels of engineering. By incorporating the principles of Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle, this work investigates key factors and pedagogical considerations for the design of effective remote laboratory activities. The findings highlight the importance of providing students with hands-on, experiential learning opportunities, even in remote settings, to enhance their understanding and application of theoretical concepts in engineering education. To date, the institution represented by the authors' research group has implemented over 44 courses with learning activities utilizing pilot remote laboratories, benefiting more than 375 students. This paper presents the main lessons learned from these experiences.