Laboratory experimentation has a vital role in science education. With the potential offered by information and communication technologies for the educational domain, virtual laboratories have emerged as a valuable alternative to face-to-face, hands-on laboratories. Moreover, the possibility of virtual laboratories opens new perspectives for higher education sustainability. They are a perfect approach for training learners to understand scientific principles in many fields of science by offering them the possibility to illustrate the scientific phenomena through automated and virtual practical activities that employ computer simulation. In this work, we present the use of computer simulation combined with the JavaScript programming language for the development of a low-cost virtual laboratory integrated into an interactive learning environment based on the Moodle platform. The methodology was based on the instructional design model ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation), which structures the development planning of online teaching resources in different stages (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation). The virtual laboratory was developed by Moroccan universities, with the help of European partners, and it was implemented in the 12 science faculties in Morocco. It presents a great choice for supporting laboratory activities for learners in the first year of their bachelor’s degree program. This virtual laboratory includes 12 virtual practical activities mapped to the physics curriculum, and they can be operated via the Internet on computers. The proposed virtual learning environment was evaluated by teachers and learners from the science faculties. The obtained results, together with similar findings from other studies, indicate the positive impact of the use of a virtual laboratory on learning outcomes, and support the adoption of the proposed learning environment in laboratory educational procedures as an alternative to physical laboratories.

This work presents the UC@MOOC project as a pedagogical innovation to face the effects of massification that are making Moroccan universities endure many constraints for the past ten years, as well as other African universities. It aims, among its objectives, to cope with the massification factor and to overcome the language difficulties encountered by students. In this project, our top priority is to reduce academic failure then we will get to the point of responding to the training' needs. Courses are scripted and posted online which did not require many resources, so their production cost is relatively low. Audiovisual digital content also helps us to save time, and go to a hybrid teaching or even flipped classrooms in some cases. The idea is not to suppress the face-to-face courses but, instead, to place teachers at the center of this educational innovation. The online posting of free content allows students to deepen knowledge autonomously and independently. We will present the low-cost economical model that has been used to support this initiative and the challenges that we are facing. Some provided ideas on the critical success factors of this initiative will be described and discussed.

Since their emergence just over a decade, the Open Educational Resources (OER) have been essential in the development of educational strategies and policies in many countries. The first part of this article describes briefly the state of the art in terms of definitions and applications of OER. Then we will focus on the adoption of OER at Cadi Ayyad University. In particular, we will present and discuss some initiatives developed at Cadi Ayyad University. Finally, we will present challenges facing OER in our university within different factors.