Advances in technology have constructed a new path for education. Easier access to smartphones and computers provides everyone with knowledge at the tip of their fingers. Students can find a vast range of studying materials such as interactive learning sites, educational videos, and virtual experiments. They can access university lectures and listen to the pioneers of science. They can visit museums, laboratories such as CERN, and research stations at the north pole using a VR headset. They can perform experiments as if they are playing a game.
Online and distant learning options have been around for decades, long before COVID-19. Demand for distant learning solutions increased greatly during the pandemic. Due to the inability of accessing a wet lab; both students and teachers benefit from virtual reality alternatives to laboratory hours. VRLab Academy is helping students learn and experience experiments that can be done in a high school laboratory, along with advanced experiments that are not feasible for high school and middle school laboratories due to high costs and possible safety issues. Even if there is a fully equipped research laboratory, most researchers and professors would abstain from giving the access of million-dollar equipment to undergraduate students. With VRLab Academy, undergraduates can learn how to use delicate and expensive equipment without the risk of harming themselves or contaminating any ongoing research.
VRLab Academy provides educators with content regarding biology, chemistry, electromagnetism, mechanics, optics, thermodynamics, modern physics, astronomy, medical biochemistry, and popular science laboratories. Experiments can be used as an opportunity to learn about the subject and visualize concepts learned in the classroom for middle and high schools. They can be used as pre-laboratory material to eliminate the risk of mistakes when handling chemicals and special equipment. During COVID-19, virtual experiments are used as an alternative for wet laboratory practices in distant learning. This helps students to feel more connected to their learning experience and have higher self-esteem in such practices. In the future, we can be sure that Internet-based education will remain a big part of how we learn. Additionally, virtual reality technology will undoubtedly play a big role in the new way of learning. Why? Because studies show that students can learn better in a virtual environment than in an actual one. With the internet at our fingertips, virtual STEM labs have allowed students to replace traditional field experiences with more academic practices that focus on learning as opposed to doing.
Take a look at all experiments at VRLab Academy and enhance your teaching power with us.
References:
Ray, S., & Srivastava, S. (2020). Virtualization of science education: a lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of proteins and proteomics, 1–4. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42485-020-00038-7
Radhamani, R., Kumar, D., Nizar, N., Achuthan, K., Nair, B., & Diwakar, S. (2021). What virtual laboratory usage tells us about laboratory skill education pre- and post-COVID-19: Focus on usage, behavior, intention and adoption. Education and information technologies, 26(6), 7477–7495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10583-3