A newly-developed online laboratory experiment in immersive virtual reality (VR) is used for process engineering students. A digital twin (DT) of a jet pump was realised using the game engine Unreal Engine 4. The chance was taken for an instructional redesign deviating from the conventional cookbook-experiment to better integrate the changing competence demands of the working world 4.0 (W4.0). A real-world scenario (RWS) is used to address the sometimes-vague problem-solving assignments of W4.0: the students found themselves in an ambiguous situation which must be cleared and resolved constructively and autonomously by them. The RWS was evaluated by triangulating qualitative and quantitative methods. Firstly, its Constructive Alignment was evaluated, i.e. whether the intended learning outcomes to be achieved through the novel teaching and learning activities were reflected in the assessment tasks, too. Secondly, students were surveyed regarding their attitudes towards such new forms of laboratory learning. The results show that even if the students initially seem overwhelmed by the unfamiliar type of assignment, they are nevertheless able to solve the work-related engineering problem – at least with varying degrees of assistance from a fictional immediate superior. The students appreciate the opportunity to think creatively and independently develop solutions to the assignment.

The demands of modern industry contexts (so‐called Industry 4.0) are going to reshape the working world of future engineers. It seems obvious that these technological developments will affect higher education institutions with increasing intensity. For years, there has been a vivid discussion on the IT competences, which need to be developed by students in order to face emerging technology changes. To tackle the question regarding industry expectations towards future engineers, in this article a remote laboratory at a German university is analysed to identify potentials for future‐oriented teaching and learning in the light of the required competences for “Working 4.0”. Current scientific studies and industry agendas about Working 4.0 competences are identified, connected learning objectives are derived and the focused remote laboratory is linked to these objectives. As a result, it can be shown that this educational setting has the potential to reflect the complexity of Working 4.0. However, the results also show that the examined laboratory addresses only some of the competences in the context of Industry 4.0. Furthermore, it is argued in how far industry demands serve as the only basis for educational development efforts. The scientific studies and the industry agenda offer a limited and more political perspective on educational development. Nevertheless, based on the research in this article, it can be argued that remote labs (and online labs in general) have the potential to lift traditional laboratory‐based engineering education to a modern engineering education 4.0.

The development of tele-operated experimentation and its provision to distance learners opens new dimensions for experience-based scientific and engineering education, particularly where experiments are the core elements of teaching and learning. The finalized EU-funded project PeTEXâ??Platform for e-Learning and Telemetric Experimentation has developed a prototype of an e-learning platform based on the learning and content management system Moodle for the design and implementation of educational and training applications in the field of production engineering. The principle goal of this project was to establish individual and group oriented learning for different target groups like students and professional workers within a platform-system capable to serve a multi-lingual learning community. Hence, an educational model was designed which integrates the tele-operated experimentation platform with teaching content and learning activities in order to support a successful learning walkthrough for different target groups.

The use of laboratories in Higher Engineering Education is an adequate opportunity to implement forms of experiential learning like problem-based or research-based learning into manufacturing technology. The introduction of remote laboratories gives students the opportunity to do self-directed research and by that having their own and unique learning experiences. Recently finished research projects, e.g. the PeTEX project, implemented research-based learning by deploying real laboratory equipment without being physically in the laboratory but by accessing it via the Internet. One essential question in this context is on the one hand how the student can document his/her own learning processes and how the teacher can guide the student through these processes on the other hand. The proposed solution in this paper is a personal learning environment that integrates a remote lab and an e-portfolio system. E-portfolios enable the student to individually and collectively document and reflect what he/she has been doing and to share his/her outcomes with others. The paper outlines the important role that e-portfolios can play as personal learning environments to experience remote laboratory work and to foster creative attitudes.