Virtual Laboratories as a teaching environment: A tangible solution or a passing novelty?
http://mms.ecs.soton.ac.uk/mms2003/papers/5.pdf
I was actually disappointed with this paper. The title is a question I face any time I discuss the use of virtual labs, or any technology in my classroom. I'm the youngest teacher in my department, and I use more technology than the rest of my colleagues combined. They often ask me what benefit it can be to my students to use these materials, and I'd hoped to get a good evaluative article to that end.
Here's my own reflection to discuss that end, since the paper really didn't do much of that. It pointed out that virtual labs should not replace real labs, but that's been the consensus that I've heard every time I've seen virtual labs discussed. I think that virtual labs are a great precursor to many labs, but there are some labs where the physical technique is far less important, and a wet lab can be fully replaced by a virtual lab. You can't eliminate titrations or thermodynamics experiments, but a qualitative analysis lab, where you simply mix solutions to see what happens can be done completely on the computer. This is especially the case, since mercury is a common part of that analysis scheme.
Is there some magical list, do this lab with chemicals, but you can do this one on the computer? There isn't, and there shouldn't be, but an important part of the decision to use virtual labs is to decide what is appropriate for the medium, and what simply must be done in the lab.
I was actually disappointed with this paper. The title is a question I face any time I discuss the use of virtual labs, or any technology in my classroom. I'm the youngest teacher in my department, and I use more technology than the rest of my colleagues combined. They often ask me what benefit it can be to my students to use these materials, and I'd hoped to get a good evaluative article to that end.
Here's my own reflection to discuss that end, since the paper really didn't do much of that. It pointed out that virtual labs should not replace real labs, but that's been the consensus that I've heard every time I've seen virtual labs discussed. I think that virtual labs are a great precursor to many labs, but there are some labs where the physical technique is far less important, and a wet lab can be fully replaced by a virtual lab. You can't eliminate titrations or thermodynamics experiments, but a qualitative analysis lab, where you simply mix solutions to see what happens can be done completely on the computer. This is especially the case, since mercury is a common part of that analysis scheme.
Is there some magical list, do this lab with chemicals, but you can do this one on the computer? There isn't, and there shouldn't be, but an important part of the decision to use virtual labs is to decide what is appropriate for the medium, and what simply must be done in the lab.
posted by MJS at 10:41 PM
1 Comments:
I wonder with virtural labs if students retain the information on the materials better. There is something to be said to actually holding a beaker and a graduated cylinder. I know that your students clearly know the difference between those two things but mine need to learn the names of the tools in the lab.
JS
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