The Importance of Virtual Labs for The “New Normal”?

As a result of the epidemic that swept the planet earlier this year, we have been forced to operate in digital mode. With the advent of digital learning, we now have the ability to save the day while maintaining social distance. While firms let employees work remotely, researchers and academicians picked virtual labs as one of the key strategies for coping with the “new normal” of the information age.

What Are Virtual Labs?

Virtual laboratories have been made possible thanks to digital learning. Virtual laboratories are one of the technical breakthroughs in today’s educational approaches, and they are becoming more popular. In virtual laboratories, computers are utilized to create a 3D virtual atmosphere for the science lab, which is then shown on a monitor. This allows the student to cohabit with it, engage with it, and deal with it so that the learners feel as if they are coexisting with, interacting with, and dealing with a genuine scientific lab in all of its aspects.

A computer and Internet connection will be provided to the student, allowing him or her to finish their research in real-time. Aside from that, the student will have access to knowledge in a variety of materials and fields, which will help him improve his abilities and stay up with the latest advancements in education.

Benefits of Using Virtual Labs

1. Enable the students to carry out a large number of experiments that would be impossible to carry out in actual labs due to the hazards involved.

2. Assist instructors and students in saving time and effort by eliminating the need to stick to certain schedules for entering the lab or moving from one location to another.

3. Allows for more flexibility in the execution of tests. The same experiment may be repeated as many times as necessary.

4. Enable students to participate in practical activities that are relevant to theoretical learning, which will aid in their understanding of the courses.

Students and instructors should be shielded against any direct contact with poisonous or radioactive materials or from handling explosive devices or electricity, among other things.

6. Allow for the simplicity of modifying the inputs and activities that were utilized in the experiment when necessary.

7. Allow students to remain connected to the Internet during the experiment, which will aid them in searching and collecting information.

8. Provide students with the ability to record outcomes digitally and start sharing them with others in order to share their experiences.

9. Provide instructors with the ability to electronically follow up with and assess pupils.

10. Making the switch to virtual laboratories is a significant step forward in terms of staying current with technology.

Use Cases of Virtual Labs

As an outcome of the ease or lifting of the lockdown in numerous nations, labs are being reopened. There are, however, stringent procedures that a lab or a scientist would be required to adhere to. This is one of the causes why multiple colleges are still using virtual laboratories today.

An organization called Labster has provided researchers and students at colleges such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, as well as Berkeley with the possibility to virtually start exploring these critical facilities and learn about the process of conducting tests on the contagious disease that was discovered inside, all without having to worry about issues such as access, cost, or, most importantly, safety risks.

In addition to this, other schools and institutions are presently using the virtual lab approach. For example, the Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai, and other similar academic institutions are included. 

Here are some popular examples of use cases for virtual labs:

Allow for home study during a pandemic

Allow students to access laboratories in the same way they did before Covid19, and provide them with all of the tools they need to do so.

Allow for self-study from any location

Students may study whenever they want, using any device, and they can make their own reservations for ICT labs or general lab devices.

Enhance your abilities

With a self-service interface, faculty may make changes to laboratories on their own, including the deployment of additional labs, without requiring IT assistance.

An Introduction To Accops HyLabs  

Accops HyLabs assists universities, educational institutions, and L&D enterprises in the creation, management, and monitoring of virtualized ICT laboratories, as well as in providing real-time access to the ICT enabled labs from any device, anywhere, and at any time.

HyLabs automates provisioning, orchestration, and curriculum-based access to ICT laboratories with the singular purpose of enabling instructors and students to self-serve. It empowers HoDs and faculty members to deploy and run laboratories on their own, without prior expertise or training in the underlying infrastructure.

At the same time, students may use their own devices to gain schedule-based access to existing physical labs or virtual laboratories from their homes or school. Virtualizing ICT laboratories lowers operational expenses for institutes while enabling a real-time, self-service learning environment. 

So, if you want to benefit from our comprehensive virtual labs, contact our experts at Accops today!