Benefits of virtual laboratories in the education system

TOI-Online / Dec 18, 2022, 12:11 IST

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Benefits of virtual laboratories in the education system

The onset of online education has also heralded the need for virtual laboratories that help students to learn the empirical and practical aspects of their studies to enable a complete understanding of their topics. The virtual laboratories are flexible by nature and they help the children to explore a wide range of experimental conditions more easily and quickly.The article deals with the main features of virtual laboratories and their benefits for the education system.
Firstly, a look at the characteristics of virtual laboratories:

Virtual labs are based on the simulation of tools and employ the usage of equipment, tools, tests and procedures used in Science subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry and other disciplines as well.
The virtual labs are created by utilising the computer to create a 3D virtual environment for the Science lab or any other lab. On the whole, these are interactive, digital simulations of activities that typically take place in a traditional laboratory set-up.
The virtual labs enable the users to conduct experiments in 3D multiuser worlds where users are represented by avatars and are provided with a variety of communication and collaboration on services to give effective simulation for an actual learning experimental process.
Here, the students coexist, interact, and deal with real-life virtual conditions in all dimensions, making them feel like they are in a genuine laboratory.

Benefits of virtual laboratories:

Virtual labs that can create similar lab-like situations with the help of 3D and Augmented Reality(AR) can be advantageous for the education system in the following ways:
VR(Virtual Reality) labs allow students to modify the values of the different variables studied and achieve the experimental results faster than in a traditional or remote laboratory
Since the virtual labs are not happening in physical conditions, they encourage and motivate students to perform experiments safely without any stress of making errors
These are cost-effective as they help to save the expenses that are incurred by the schools in setting up a full-fledged traditional laboratory
The virtual labs also make it possible to learn the practical sides of the subject and experiment freely when there are limitations to accessing a physical lab
Virtual labs make it possible to overcome physical limitations by making laboratories more inclusive, creative and effective for all
These help in building fundamental professional skills such as problem-solving, application design, and fault identification
Virtual laboratories also encourage students to learn concepts and principles through simulations and representations of abstract phenomena
The present virtual laboratories are much needed in Science-based subjects and they are capable of offering the needed applicability and usability and provide equivalent learning improvements as traditional labs

However, the virtual labs need to be improved further for creating new labs that are more realistic and capable of developing additional skills besides conceptual understanding. There is also a need for incorporating more contextual pedagogical approaches within virtual labs. To create such labs, more research is required for ascertaining the learning efficiency of such laboratories, opportunities and trends need to be identified and worked upon for future research and development.

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