A Virtual Lab and e-learning system for renewable energy sources

2008 International World Energy System Conference, 2008

The European Community has long recognised the need to further promote renewable energy given that its exploitation contributes to sustainable development, security of supply and the development of a knowledge based industry creating jobs, economic growth, competitiveness and rural development.

One of the most important objectives of the European Union energy strategy is looking for sustainable development through the improvement of energy efficiency and the promotion of renewable energy sources. An international project focused on encouraging the use of renewable energy sources in buildings, within the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme of the European Union, is being developed by eight participants from four countries, including regional Energy Agencies, Universities and small and medium enterprises of the construction sector. The project includes training actions consisting of the development of a new profile of renewable energies technician through a postgraduate engineering programme. This international programme involves the utilization of the UBUCampus-e, a webbased environment of the University of Burgos for elearning. The UBUCampus-e has been used in a traditional lectures postgraduate course in Spain and as a fully online e-learning environment in an international postgraduate course for European engineers. Assessment of the courses through questionnaires and the UBUCampus-e trail facility has been done. Some results related to the development of the courses and to the learning engagement are presented.

2007

During the last years, computers have found their way into Greek secondary education. At the same time, environmental education has also received special attention in both primary and secondary education, due in part to the cross-disciplinary curriculum introduced. This paper presents a web based course on ‘Renewable Energy sources’, created through the ELearn platform, for the use of students in Technical Vocational Educational Secondary Education Schools (TVE).The course presented in this paper is part of a larger project, commissioned by the Greek Manpower Employment Organization to supplement specific aspects of the curriculum taught at TVE with web based courses. The course consists of five autonomous chapters, selected from the relevant textbook taught in TVE. The first covers general principles and concepts relevant to renewable energy sources, while the second focuses on solar energy and its applications. The third presents hydraulic and wind energy, the fourth geothermal en...

International Journal of Online Engineering (iJOE), 2009

The solar energy e-learning laboratory (solar elab) in Cyprus is a good example of a web-based, remote engineering laboratory. It comprises a pilot solar energy conversion plant which is equipped with all necessary instrumentation, data acquisition, and communication devices needed for remote access, control, data collection and processing. The impact that the solar e-lab had during its nearly 5 years of operation is indeed high. Throughout this period, the solar e-lab has been accessed by users from over 500 locations from 79 countries spread all over the world. In the period of November 2004 to October 2008, more than a million visits were recorded, out of which 25000 have registered on the site and surfed through studying the supplied material. Around 1000 hits concerned registered users that passed the pre-lab test and performed the experimentation part. The four years of operation of the solar e-lab demonstrated how the Internet can be used as a tool to make the laboratory facilities accessible to engineering students and technicians located outside the laboratory, including overseas. In this way, the solar energy e-learning lab, its equipment and experimental facilities were made available and shared by a number of interested people, thus widening educational experiences. Judging from the online evaluation reports that were received from the solar e-lab users during the last 2 years of operation, it can be concluded that there is nearly excellent satisfaction by the users.

2011

Academic and professional education programmes currently available in the areas of energy and environment cannot fully satisfy market demands. Furthermore, closed and isolated systems, such as islands, face additional problems due to geographical discontinuity. The role and the potential of e-learning in both instructor-led (synchronous) and online (asynchronous) course delivery in such isolated systems are investigated. The discussion focuses on the "Energy Academy", a distance learning programme of continuous education and training on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Energy Savings for local administration officials and for persons involved in the formulation of energy and environmental policies in the Aegean islands of Greece.

2014

AVARES is a Leonardo da Vinci Transfer of Innovation Project aiming to develop a Virtual Reality environment, to create innovative Virtual Reality learning methodologies and integrate them with traditional learning for teaching more efficiently the challenging field of Renewal Energy Sources (RES). The project aims to establish 3D virtual learning environment and multimedia learning materials providing access to vocational education and training in the field of Renewable Energy Resources (RES), by means of modern information and communication technology for vocational education and training. RES domain is considered a hard domain for students to deeply understand via traditional learning methods. The Innovative Educational Platform to be developed in AVARES project combines traditional learning procedures offered to students via Moodle through Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), with learning procedures delivered to students in a3D Virtual World. The Virtual World is developed in Op...

Academic and professional education programmes currently available in the areas of energy and environment cannot fully satisfy market demands. Furthermore, closed and isolated systems, such as islands, face additional problems due to geographical discontinuity. The role and the potential of e-learning in both instructor-led (synchronous) and online (asynchronous) course delivery in such isolated systems are investigated. The discussion focuses on the "Energy Academy", a distance learning programme of continuous education and training on Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Energy Savings for local administration officials and for persons involved in the formulation of energy and environmental policies in the Aegean islands of Greece.

The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the move towards more knowledge-intensive, interdependent and internationalized societies created new challenges and opportunities for the design and delivery of education. This evolution also influenced the educational branches of life long training, continuing vocational training and distance training. This paper presents an e-training system which gives information about contemporary electrical installations simulating them as a virtual class. The presented material is organized into four separate courses because each one describes different features of electrical installations and has its own importance. The type of information provided, is both theoretical and practical. Moreover, this paper projects a market research on training needs of the electrical engineering sector across four EU countries. All the above, are implemented with new digital technology methods, using multimedia content management techniques and Open and Distance Learning (ODL) principles. Its main goal is to transfer knowledge to the electricians' workforce in order to achieve their adaptation to the transition from conventional installation technology to an intelligent one.

IMCL2021 – 14th International Conference on Interactive Mobile Communication, Technologies and Learning, 2021

Throughout the years with the development of industry and technology, people have increased environmental pollution. Generating much waste, using non-recycling materials, all lead to an increase in environmental pollution. In an era in which technology is so developing at a dizzying pace, the demand for electricity is only increasing, this situation may bring to a crisis that will disrupt the economy's operations. These are severe problems that threaten the normal existence of Earth and of course, our life. We are approaching an "irreversible point". Environmental contamination, including air, water, soil, pollution, creating waste in huge amounts as well as the waste of energy. This is reflected in damaging the sea, contaminating the groundwater, increase in global temperature, global phenomena like "acid rain" and the lessening of the ozone layer. There is no room for deliberation we must not remain indifferent-the earth's population must wake up and act quickly, unite and make a comprehensive change in order to reduce significantly the harm caused by the industry around the world. In this article, we will present a case study of the education of the future generation for sustainability, environmental protection through Renewable Energy by Remote and Online laboratories.

… of Innovation in …, 2012