Remote experimentation with massively scalable online laboratories

Abstract

In this paper we present a solution for highly scalable online laboratories at low cost. The Massively Scalable Online Laboratories (MSOL) is an online platform that enables the virtualization of real experiments in a fashion that very closely mimics a physical experiment. Moreover, it includes social features to enable peer-to-peer learning and facilitates the creation of an online community. To add an experiment to the MSOL platform, an existing setup is automatically turned into a data set, accessible through data base queries. In this way, MSOL provides an effective and scalable solution to add an important element to current online education systems at low costs. The MSOL platform might also accompany scientific and engineering papers to add another domain to disseminate qualitative and quantitative data.