Designing the next generation of virtual learning environments — Virtual laboratory with remote access to real telecommunication devices

With the development of the modern telecommunication systems and networks many new options for providing education services have emerged. A general worldwide trend is the development of distance learning sites and virtual laboratories, which are providing state-of-the-art education in all possible areas and are coexisting with the available on-site and in-person courses and subjects. In the Internet-oriented 21st century many university students have turned to and prefer these electronic and virtual educational resources, not only as additional learning options, but also as primary means for obtaining the latest educational materials by the leading university lecturers worldwide. This process has presented one of the major challenges for the available virtual learning environments - how to make it possible for the students to access, use and work with real equipment. In this paper we present our vision for a virtual laboratory which will provide the possibility for the students to access remotely and in real time the available laboratory set of telecommunication devices. In the Introduction section of the paper we analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the available virtual learning environments. In the next Section we introduce the general conceptual model of the planned laboratory and later we present the actual structure and the organizational requirements for its implementation. The paper continues with a Section, which presents the created virtual laboratory and its capabilities, and is finalized by the Conclusions and References sections.