“Technology to the rescue” Reimagining Laboratory Training in Heriot-Watt Malaysia through E-Labinar

The delivery of Labinar, which is an instructor-led and on-campus laboratory training module for lab-based engineering courses, in Heriot-Watt University (HWU) Malaysia has been stopped temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent campus closure. As a result, lab users were not able to equip themselves with the necessary Health & Safety knowledge, lab operations and the like, when lab spaces eventually reopened in October 2021. Recognizing the need to adapt to the new normal, the lab team has piloted a project that employs technology and transformed the labinar, into an online module (called as E-Labinar) that is accessible, flexible, and sustainable. E-Labinar utilizes self-directed learning approach and incorporates elements that address the diversity and hybridity of the lab user’s interests and identities. The authenticity of E-Labinar’s pedagogy and structure will be evaluated in the subsequent milestones by utilizing feedback from the users and programme teams. Through E-labinar, lab users from any locations and time-zones will be able to access the learnings and at the same time will earn a ‘safety passport’ which is a credential that proofs competencies in the pre-requisites before using the lab spaces.