The use of ICT in education has changed substantially over the last two decades. The development of new technologies has enabled us, the users, to mature and gain experience. The introduction of ICT in the educational process at the same time means a change of the teachers' role. The teacher appears in the role of a mentor who directs the activities of the learner. There has been a change in the teacher preparation to teach. He should provide both the content as well as technical support and to create a suitable learning environment. The way of teaching in the natural science and engineering education is specific due to the need of transfer knowledge into the practice. The nature of work in this kind of education requires more experimental work, based on individual learning process. There are many different implementation options of laboratory exercises that advantageously incorporate ICT into the nature of their work. The most popular in engineering education are two different types of laboratories: Simulation (virtual) and Remote controlled (online) labs, defined by Balamuralithara and Woods (2009). A remote controlled laboratory for conducting remote experiments at the University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering was developed. Development of the remote lab was carried out as an exploratory work of the group of students and professors. The lab was developed in the following three phases: development of the construction with corresponding technical documentation, development of the control system and development of the system for remote control of a lift. The successful student project is evident through the applicability of the developed laboratory that serves as a great tool for studying and offers all the benefits of ICT.
Key words: experimental work, higher education, learning environment, pedagogy 1:1.
The Prospects of Virtual Laboratories in Engineering Education across Africa – A Case Study in Electrical Engineering