Gamification Is Catching on Through Virtual Science Labs
Gamification Is Catching on Through Virtual Science Labs
Gamification Is Catching on Through Virtual Science Labs
By Aaron Gifford
May 1, 2023
Summary
Schools in all 50 states are supplementing or even replacing the beaker and Bunsen burners found in traditional lab settings with a simulation program that teaches science through gamification - incorporating elements of game-playing in order to make the program more engaging.
They're doing this through Labster, a global ed-tech company with a U.S. office in Boston, which last month announced a free upgrade to its Virtual Science Lab, affecting about 80 percent of its science lab simulators on individual devices as well as learning management systems at both high school and college levels.
"Labster plays an important role in helping students complete challenging STEM courses, so it's critical that we leverage the power of our platform to support their learning and progress through each simulation," Labster co-founder and CEO Michael Bodekaer Jensen said in a public statement.
In an email to Government Technology last week, Bodekaer Jensen and Mark Fuller, Labster's product marketing director, noted that the upgrade also includes 50 new science simulations, access for non-English speakers and students with disabilities, mobile apps for iPads and Chromebooks, new onboarding instructions, an online channel for teachers, and a feature that allows the program to be opened directly from Canvas, Blackboard and other major learning management systems.
In Massachusetts, Virtual Science Lab is used at Nimuk High School to engage students and pique their interest in the subject matter before they conduct experiments in a real lab.
In an email to Government Technology, Labster's lead product manager Sarah Jayne Boulton said applying gamification to STEM instruction fills in the gap of knowledge students often miss when classes rely too much on memorization techniques to consolidate foundational information.
Labster company officials said the Virtual Lab technology also supports equity in education because their "Million-dollar laboratory is available to any student, any time." Fuller said the technology is available in five languages and has experiments available for students with vision, hearing or learning impairments.
Reference
Gifford, A. (2023, May 1). Gamification is catching on through virtual science labs. GovTech. https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/virtual-science-labs