A Practice-based MOOC for Learning Electronics

Félix García, Gabriel Díaz, Mohamed Tawfik, Sergio Martín, Elio Sancristobal, Manuel Castro

Electrical & Computer Engineering Department (DIEEC)Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED)

Presentation Structure

Introduction to MOOCs

Introduction to VISIR

World’s 1st remote lab-based MOOC

Implementation and Results

Future Works

Extending the concepts of OCW, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) was originated in 2008 within the OER movement. MOOCs are open online courses that are more structured formal and aiming at large-scale interactive participation. Only a few percent of the tens of thousands of students who may sign up complete the course. Typically they do not offer academic credit or charge tuition fees but in some cases they offer the possibility of earning academic credit or certificates based on supervised examinations.

Subsequently, several providers by elite universities have emerged such as edX, which was founded by MIT and Harvard University. New commercial start-ups such as Coursera and Udacity have also been launched in collaboration with prestigious universities, offering online courses either for free, charging or only charging a small fee for the final certification. Other open education initiatives have been around such as Udemy, P2PU and Khan Academy.

Different ideologies have driven MOOCs in two different pedagogical directions:

1. The earlier connectivist-based MOOCs (cMOOC), which was based on exploring new pedagogies beyond traditional classroom and emphasizing that learning and knowledge emerge from interaction, creativity, autonomy and informal social networking learning relatively free from institutional constraints.

2. And the later content-based MOOCs (xMOOCs) such as those offered by Coursera and edX, which emphasize a more traditional and behaviorist learning approach through instructional methods with video presentations, short quizzes and testing.

Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR)

Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR)

1) Bleking Institute of Technology (BTH).

2) Carinthia University of Applied Sciences.

3) FH Campus Wien University of applied sciences.

4) Polytechnic Institute of Porto (ISEP).

5) University of Deusto.

6) Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED).

7) Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M).

Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR)

Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR)

Virtual Instrument Systems in Reality (VISIR)

RLC circuit

Half-wave rectifier with filter.

Half-wave rectifier without filter.

Inverter operational amplifier.

Non-inverter operational amplifier.

Regulator with zener diode.

Common emitter BJT.

Common collector BJT.

World’s first MOOC

based on remote

laboratories!!

Organization

1st edition course: May 2013 – September 2013 (5 months)2nd edition course: November 2013 – January 2014 (3 months)

8 modules of 10 hours. The first module introduces circuit simulation with tools such as SPICE and Micro-Cap

and the subsequent modules involves real-time practicing with VISIR.

35 years old students or older 43%

Active workers 50%

Undergraduate students in a related field 18%

Graduate or postgraduate students in a related field 19%

Students with a non-university degree in a related field 23%

Students enrolled in this MOOC especially because of the use of a remote laboratory 81%

Organization

Access to experiments is provided by the MOOC’s portal through an integrated scheduling system.

The initial settings allow 16 simultaneous users per 60 minutes slot and for each user a maximum of two simultaneous slots booked and a limitation of 14 slots per course.

With these settings, VISIR allows up to 384 students to experiment with any of the designed practices of the MOOC every.

Implementation

Implementation

Implementation

https://unedcoma.es/

UNED COMA

Future Works

RRL

L

C

RRL

L

CRS

VS VSRS

RL

C

RS

VSB80C1000 +-

VS

R-78C5.0-1.0

Rsh

VS

Rsh Rsh Rsh

A

B

LM7805-B LM7805-A

1

2

3

4

5 6 7

8

9

C1 C2Rsh2

RL

Rela

y 1

Rela

y 2

+5V NTC 1,2 NTC 3

1

2 4

3

RL

NTC 1 NTC 2

5 6 7

C1 C2

L

Rsh2

Rsh

C3

C

D

These practices leverage VISIR and convert it into a unique training platform of its kind!!!!

• To study the effect of load variation on the input and output signals, the effect of input signals’ variation on the output signals, and the thermal effect of the regulator IC due to power dissipations.

• The datasheet of the thermistors is used to calculate the temperature and a reasonable time should be considered (about 5 to 10 minutes) between each measurement.

Rsh

VS

LM7805-B LM7805-A

1

2

3

4

5 6 7

8

9

C1 C2Rsh2

RL

Rela

y 1

Rela

y 2

+5V NTC 1,2 NTC 3

Non-Isolated Linear Regulated DC/DC Converter

Non-Isolated Linear Regulated DC/DC Converter

• Temperature of the ambient is measured by the NTC3 (25°C).

• The input signal is applied to each regulator LM7805 for 5 minutes and then its temperature is measured.

• NTC1: thermal resistance (60 °C/W junction air thermal resistance – junction cases thermal resistance), which is nearly close to the practical measurement ( increment 50)

• NTC2: total thermal resistance is 21°C/W, (thermal resistances of the heat sink 14 °C/W + junction cases of the regulator + 2 °C/W due to the imperfection of the contact between the regulator and the heat sink). (increment 25)

Rsh

VS

LM7805-B LM7805-A

1

2

3

4

5 6 7

8

9

C1 C2Rsh2

RLR

ela

y

1

Re

lay

2

+5V NTC 1,2 NTC 3

NTC3 (25C) NTC1 (75°C) NTC2 (50 °C)

Thanks for your Attention!

Mohamed Tawfik

mtawfik@ieec.uned.es

Electrical & Computer Engineering Department (DIEEC)Spanish University for Distance Education (UNED)