== Remote Instrumentation ==
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=== What is it? ===
Remote instrumentation provides the means to control and receive data from experimental apparatus which is located at geographical distance. The most eye-catching example is probably the ability of researchers to analyse the observations made by [http://marsrovers.nasa.gov/home/ instruments located on, or flying above, Mars]. However, remote instrumentation also has valuable Earth-bound applications. For example, a researcher based in Birmingham could collect data directly from a seismometer on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius without having to travel there. Or, a small college with limited resources may be able to use expensive equipment owned by a larger institution, as was the case with [http://icampus.mit.edu/projects/iLabs.shtml iLab], part of the MIT-Microsoft iCampus project.

The [http://www.educause.edu Educause Learning Initiative’s] (ELI’s) ''7 Things You Should Know About...'' series contains a useful [http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7013.pdf guide to remote instrumentation] (PDF).

=== How can I use it with my students? ===
Remote instrumentation makes it possible for students to participate in major scientific investigations alongside experts and/or or use complex apparatus that their college cannot afford. An example is the [http://websemserver.materials.ox.ac.uk/cybersem/about.php Oxford CyberSEM], which opens up the microscopic world to school students. 

=== Examples ===

''We are still researching examples and case studies for this topic. If you would like to contribute any (whether from your own teaching or from other sources), please [mailto:phoebe@conted.ox.ac.uk contact us].''


=== How do I get access to them? ===
In the main, access to remote instrumentation appears to be driven by initiatives on the part of the “owner” organisations: for example, Oxford University in the case of CyberSEM. 

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