PathWave Lab Operations for Remote Learning, PW9112EDU

Purpose-built, secured remote teaching and learning solution for real instrument access and control, anytime  and anywhere

The Megatrend of Remote Learning

Online learning has been a part of many educational institutions since the spread of the Internet. Now, new norms such as social distancing and limits on face-to-face interaction are dramatically accelerating the shift from traditional in-building learning to virtual classes offered remotely on digital platforms. The availability of online courses opens opportunities to international and distance learning students, and remote learning offers students the flexibility of learning anytime, anywhere. With these benefits, online learning is expanding exponentially, and educational institutes must rapidly transform to keep pace with this megatrend. 

What’s the definition of Remote Learning?

In simple terms, remote learning is the process of teaching and learning performed at a distance. The student and the educator, or information source, are not physically present in a traditional classroom environment.

What Makes Remote Teaching and Learning Challenges?

If you would have asked most of the educators last year or even before about the terms “remote learning”, you will probably receive perplexed or even pessimistic responses. However, over the past few months, with the pandemic hit, the landscape of remote learning had changed in the blink of an eye. Most of the educators and students are dealing with new learning methods which have indeed important and have lasting impact.

Challenges for University

One of the unique course structures of an engineering program is the live, handson laboratory and design experience. People could start questioning, “How do accrediting organizations assess an online program to determine if the graduate has acquired knowledge and skills sufficient to begin professional practice at the entry-level?”. If students don’t receive a similar quality or experience of learning as they would on-campus, they may be less competitive upon graduation.

Hence, of vital interest to engineering (and to any practice-oriented profession), it is important for the universities to ensure that shifting to online teaching and remote learning does not scarify the education quality and align to accreditation requirements.

So, if the educational institution doesn’t include remote learning, relatively they may not be competitive in the student enrollment. In a broader view, enrollment and student employability after graduation can impact university ranking.

Challenges for the educators/lecturers/lab managers

Ideally, we hope to achieve the goal whereby both the educator and student could have the most effective remote learning attempts which is a mirror to the classroom environment as much as possible virtually when the student and educator are in two different places. However, the fact is that traditional lesson plans do not always translate digitally.

Making the jump online presents many challenges to educators, especially if you are responsible for engineering courses whose lab sessions hinges on hands-on measurement and testing. Not only does converting your conventional teaching lab to remote learning require time, this had eventually taken up substantial efforts of the educator on the preparation of learning materials and potentially requires a new system to allow remote instrument control and scheduling, you must also ensure that your students receive quality learning similar to the inperson experience they would receive in an on-site lab.