INAF Online Lab: can hands-on, educational laboratories be online?

INAF Online Lab is the name of the project born within EduINAF (the online magazine of the Italian Institute of Astrophysics) during the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent rearrangement of the outreach and teaching activities normally carried out in person. These online laboratories are an example of how to virtually take by the hand those same young people with whom only a year ago it was possible, and indeed natural, to interact live. From their schools or homes, the students are guided through the activity by an experienced operator, and take on the role of astronomers while building, observing, learning and wondering about the great mysteries of space. The four online laboratories currently active have been optimized to be perfectly usable during science festivals in an interactive way and at practically no cost.

Throughout the presentation, we will describe the project and its possible applications and evolutions, with some examples to be shown to the audience.