Online laboratories and Cross-Reality in engineering education

he COVID-19 pandemic has compelled educators to hastily move to online instruction methods.While this shift is difficult for any subject, it is particularly challenging for those instructors whose courses involve hands-on laboratory instruction.This occurs in many STEM courses.Research being carried out by Dr Dominik May, an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute at the University of Georgia, focuses on online laboratories and Cross-Reality learning spaces in engineering education.Dr May explains that he uses Cross-Reality learning spaces and labs as a descriptive umbrella term that covers all online laboratory solutions that use remote technology, augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality. KEY AREAS DrMay's research focuses on three key areas that are in line with the overall trend of digitalisation in higher education.Firstly, he explores the integration of different online laboratory solutions with virtual experimentation activities that form part of the engineering curriculum, and investigates how they promote student engagement and student learning as well as improve their overall learning experience.