Virtual Laboratories as tools for Supporting teaching and Learning Activities

The number of people connected to the Internet and the number of Web page visits have increased exponentially over the past years. The Internet has become one of the most important and most used media for communication and learning, as it allows for the creation of interactive and collaborative environments, whose contents and resources can be shared with a limitless number of users. Among the vast and diverse number of potential virtual environments (Singhal & Zyda, 1999)—which may involve chats, blogs, forums, virtual communities (Rheingold, 2000), and many others—the Internet also witnessed the design of virtual laboratories as means of making real-world laboratories—for instance: chemical, physical, and biological laboratories—available through the Web. A virtual laboratory is a tool for distance learning and/or experimentation that allows people to share knowledge, data, voice, video, tools, and many other resources. It provides a suitable environment to extend, improve, integrate, refine, and assist the learning and/or experimentation process of many subjects, thus contributing to an increase of the effectiveness of scientific research and widening the use of scarce or costly equipments. This special issue emphasizes the use of virtual laboratories as tools for the support of teaching and learning. It starts by discussing the many uses of and motivation for the study and development of virtual laboratories, and then stresses some of their main features when they are employed to support teaching and learning activities. It then follows with a brief review of the contributions to the special issue.