AbstractInthispaperwedescribethedesignoftheWebVLsystemaWeb-basedVirtualProgrammingLabforon-linedistancelearning.Theunderlyingsettingisacollectionofcomputershostingeducationandprogrammingsoftware.StudentsusepersonalcomputersathometoaccessovertheInternetoneoftheLabserverswhichistypicallylocatedataschool.TheLabserverperformsfunctionstoaccommodatethevariousrequestsfromthestudentrangingfromdownloadingsoftwarefromtheschoollabserversworkingthroughinteractivedemonstrationandtutorialsessions
