Run an electronics lab for an online class
Beginner
Or see every lesson.
- 261parts on the bench
- 31boards running now
- 1.00xreal time, on every board
This page is for teachers who run an electronics or Arduino lab over a video call, or in a hybrid class where some students are at home. It shows how to run the lab in the browser, so every student builds the circuit on their own screen.
The circuit above is a switch, a resistor and an LED on a breadboard. Click the switch and the LED lights. A student can open a circuit like this from a link, with no account and nothing to install.
Before the first online class
Open the demo class at /class/demo and look at the dashboard. Then build your first starter circuit and open it from a second browser, signed out, to see what a student sees.
Send students the link to one circuit a day before, and ask them to press Run. Anyone whose browser or network has a problem finds out before the class starts, not during it.
If your school filters websites, send the school IT page to your network team. It lists the domains Mokxi needs.
What students need
A modern web browser on a laptop, a Chromebook or a phone. The simulation runs on each student’s own device, so a slow connection does not slow the circuit down.
For code, the first build downloads the compiler, about 70 MB, once. After that it is saved in the browser. If students are on mobile data, ask them to open one Arduino project on WiFi before the class.
To open and run a circuit, no account is needed. To join a class and hand in work, each student needs a free account.
Share one circuit with the whole class
Build the starter circuit, save it and open Share. Copy the link and paste it in the chat of your video call. Each student opens it and gets their own copy to change.
For a live lesson, set the access level to "Anyone with the link can watch live" or "can edit live". That starts a live room. Everybody sees the same circuit, with each person’s cursor on it.
How many people fit depends on your plan: two on Free, and no limit on people on Pro or the Teacher plan. Joining a room is free for students.
Keep the class together in a live room
Press Bring everyone here, and every student’s canvas moves to your view. It works like sharing your screen, except each student can still click and try things on their own screen.
Press Timer and pick a few minutes for a task. Everybody sees the same countdown.
Students can press Hand up. You see a number on their face in the people row, in the order they asked. That is easier to follow than a busy chat.
The simulation is not shared. Each student runs the circuit on their own machine, so one student’s run does not change anybody else’s.
See who is stuck without asking
In a class, the Wall tab shows every student’s latest circuit as a card. A card that has not changed for ten minutes asks "stuck?". In an online class, where you cannot walk around the room, that is the student to help first.
Press a card to see their circuit running, their sketch and their serial output. Write a comment back, and it shows on their class page.
Hand in and grade
Make a class at /class and paste the invite link in the chat. A student who follows it lands on the join form with the code filled in.
Assign a starter circuit with a due date. Students submit from the Save menu. You can add checks, like a pin level or a blink rate, and Mokxi runs them on each hand-in.
Download the Gradebook CSV to move the scores into your LMS or a spreadsheet.
A 60-minute online lab, step by step
First 5 minutes: paste the class link. Students join and open the starter.
Next 10 minutes: start a live room and bring everyone to your view. Walk through the circuit. Run it, and ask one prediction question.
Next 30 minutes: students work on their own copies with a timer running. Watch the Wall tab and answer raised hands in order.
Last 15 minutes: bring everyone back. Open two students’ circuits and discuss them. Then students submit.
What does not move online
Holding a real part. Students still need to hold a resistor, read its bands and use a real meter. If you can, send a small kit home, or plan a few in-person bench sessions.
Real faults. In Mokxi no part burns out, and timing is ideal. Tell students what would happen on a real bench, and where the simulator differs.
Questions
Is it free for my students?
Yes. The simulator is free, with every board and part. The class tools come with Pro and the Teacher plan, and there is a free 30-day trial for one class of up to forty students.
Can students outside my country use it?
Yes. It runs in any modern browser. The language menu opens every page in other languages through Google Translate.
What about student privacy?
The student privacy page explains what Mokxi keeps for students in a class, and what it does not. Read it before you set up a class for a school.
Can students work in pairs from home?
Yes. One student saves the project and shares an edit link with the other. On a free account, two people fit in a room, so a pair can build one circuit together and each see the other’s cursor.
Does it work on school Chromebooks?
Yes. It runs in Chrome, with nothing to install. The Chromebook page says what works and what needs a real board.
Can I see a class before I sign up?
Yes. The demo class at /class/demo opens with no account. The roster is made up, and the dashboard is the real one.
Keep going
Build this for real
Open the editor, change a value and watch the number move with it. Nothing to install, and no account needed.