The Open University - Physics goes interactive

A new kind of physics experiment is being introduced for science students on Open University courses this year. Interactive screen experiments use Flash technology to allow students to carry out experiments using a standard home computer and a web browser. An ISE consists of many hundreds of photographs of an actual laboratory experiment designed to capture all possible states of the apparatus. "It's a kind of highly interactive movie where the student can control the development of the plot," said Paul Hatherly of the OU's department of physics. "ISEs are real experiments showing real phenomena. They are not simulations of what someone thinks you should see."