Abstract:

This paper presents our experience in using a system for remote access to the Telecommunications Laboratory developed by a team of Plovdiv University “Paisiis Hendarski” (Bulgaria). The system was used in online learning in Fundamentals of Telecommunications course during the Covid-19 pandemic. The remote laboratory includes three new laboratory experimental setups for study of amplitude modulation, pulse-code modulation and pulse-width modulation.

The pilot experiment was conducted with Bachelor's students in engineering at the Faculty of Physics and Technology during the 2020/2021 academic year. The evaluation of the technical and pedagogical effectiveness of the remote laboratory was performed by using students’ and teachers’ perceptions questionnaires.

The majority of surveyed students answer that their remote laboratory experience was the same as in the traditional setting. According to them the system is easy to use and they hadn’t any problems when conducting the remote experiment. As a major drawback, they point to the lack of opportunity for collaborative work. All of them believe that remote labs can be an effective alternative to face-to-face laboratory exercises during a lockdown.

According to the teachers the system is stable. They highly appreciate its tools for reservation of resources, managing the users and chat communication with students during the laboratory work. Results from the students’ laboratory worksheets confirmed the reliability and accuracy of the conducted data measurements.

Keywords:

Remote laboratory, distance education, telecommunications laboratory, COVID-19 pandemic.