OLabs (The Online Labs) is an educational initiative pioneered by Amrita CREATE, the Center for Research in Advanced Technologies for Education at Amrita University in partnership with CDAC, Mumbai has been officially endorsed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as a teaching aid for all its schools. It enables high-school students to perform virtual science lab experiments online.
Amrita CREATE (Center of Research in Advanced Technologies for Education), the educational technology initiative of Amrita University, has impacted over 8,000 teachers and 200,000 students by providing digital learning solutions. Amrita CREATE has won many awards including the prestigious Computer Society of India, IT Excellence Award for eLearning and Education and the 26th Kerala Science Congress, “Best Exhibit” award.
The Online Labs is based on the idea that lab experiments can be taught using the Internet, more efficiently and less expensively. The labs can also be made available to students with no access to physical labs or where equipment is not available owing to being scarce or costly. This helps them compete with students in better-equipped schools and bridges the digital divide and geographical distances. The experiments can be accessed anytime and anywhere, overcome the constraints on time felt when having access to the physical lab for only a short period of time.
The features include:
- Content aligned to the NCERT/CBSE and State Board Syllabus.
- Physics, Chemistry, Biology Labs from Class 9 to Class 12.
- Interactive simulations, animations and lab videos.
- The concepts and understanding of the experiment.
- The ability to perform, record and learn experiments – anywhere, anytime, and individualised practice in all areas of experimentation.
- The ‘learning-enabled assessment’ through Online Labs facilitates in the assessment of the procedural and manipulative skills of the experiment, the concepts, and understanding of the experiment and a student’s reporting and interpreting skills.
The development of online labs includes the study and use of mathematical techniques to demonstrate the various complex functions in diverse areas of science. The labs make use of cutting edge simulation technology to create real world lab environments. Thorough study and research
Thorough study and research is done by research personnel for better understanding of the experimental procedures. Real lab scenarios are captured through live demonstration of the experiment so as to assimilate information on the procedures and lab equipment. Visualisation and development of the graphical symbols are done based on realistic situations and compared with the respective real equipment. Simulations are made interactive using various authoring tools, thus recreating and simulating a real lab environment.
Visualisation and development of the graphical symbols are done based on realistic situations and compared with the respective real equipment. Simulations are made interactive using various authoring tools, thus recreating and simulating a real lab environment.
The online labs are hosted at www.olabs.edu.in. Access to Online Labs is free for Schools upon registration.