International Collaboration in Remote Engineering Laboratories: an Approach to Development

This paper reports on a project that aims to develop, implement, evaluate and disseminate best practice in international on-line collaboration in remote laboratories, supported by a recently awarded Australian Learning and Teaching Council competitive grant. A remote laboratory (RL) is a computer-based learning environment that allows students from anywhere in the world to access and perform experiments on real laboratory equipment from a distance via the Internet. The experiments are not simulated and are not virtual. As such, RLs are excellent platforms for students to network and collaborate with students from other countries and through this interaction to learn skills that will prepare them for an international career in the global professional job market. The project creates a framework and a toolkit to be disseminated across the Australian higher education sector, and internationally, to be used to support student collaborative activities in RLs in a structured way that will enable students to develop intercultural communication skills and acquire the international perspectives sought by their