Virtual Laboratories and their implementation

In the context of engineering studies, Virtual Laboratories (VL) are one of the most mentioned learning tools. However, opinions on what different authors consider a virtual laboratory lead us to very disparate interpretations, with the consequent lack of consensus. In this work we focus on VL applied to e-learning in technical studies. The state-of-the-art concerning these laboratories is reviewed in order to find the goals that a VL has to achieve and the requirements that it has to accomplish and it is proposed a 6 steps process to design and implement a VL. Finally, a definition of VL is proposed and it is analysed to what extent current VL satisfy this definition and all the suggested requirements.