Open Education: Virtual Labs
A "getting started" guide overviewing open, editable, and lower-cost textbooks and open teaching & learning resources for faculty, students, and librarians.
Teaching remotely (Arts and Sciences)
- Read about the OpenSTEM Labs approach from the Open UniversityThe core values of the OpenSTEM Labs are:
- Inclusivity: accessible at any time from any place by anyone.
- Pedagogy: interactive and collaborative investigations enable individual and group working for student-led or tutor-led active learning.
- Veracity: users work with real data, derived from real equipment.
- Authenticity: the labs feature bespoke teaching tools, industrial grade equipment and research grade instruments, each in their home environment. - VCUArts Z.O.M.B.I.E. Survival Guide Google DocTeaching art remotely. from Virginia Commonwealth University.
- Teaching Theatre Online: A Shift in Pedagogy Amidst Coronavirus OutbreakA 40+ page of resources and pedagogical approaches from Dr. Daphnie Sicre for teaching theatre online.
Lists of Virtual Labs, Studios, Sims, Interactive resources for teaching STEM topics
- Virtual Lab and Science Resource Directory (BCcampus)Courtesy of BCCampus. Blog post on how this list was developed: https://bccampus.ca/2020/06/18/spoiled-for-choice-virtual-labs-for-science-education SEE ALSO: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mv0EyCw2QeFIpW5P5qNR5EWdcM4pPpLPRnBDHMfaxgQ/edit#
- 200+ Online Resources for Science LaboratoriesCrowd sourced list from various sources. Includes .edu .org, and commercial sources.
- Labs Designed for Students without Access to Special EquipmentCourtesy of Open Oregon Educational Resources
- Moving Science Labs OnlineCourtesy of California Community Colleges
- Remote Lab Activities and Experiencesfrom Dartmouth
- Dissemination of IT for the Promotion of Materials Science (DoITPoMS)Materials Science resources
- A library of approximately 74 Teaching and Learning Packages covering a range of topics in Materials Science
- A library of 5 Lecture Demonstration
-Packages demonstrating simple principles of Materials Science
-A library of almost 900 micrographs
-A library of over 150 short videos
-A small library of standalone simulations
Finding Pre-Lab Videos
- Journal of Visualized Experiments (2018- )Library subscription. Not open access.
JoVE is a platform for online journals that provide peer-reviewed videos and articles on scientific experiments. The library currently subscribes to the behavior, biology, bioengineering, chemistry, immunology and infection, medicine, and neuroscience sections. - JOVA Science EducationLibrary subscription. Not open access.
JoVE Science Education provides streaming videos on science fundamentals in biology, psychology, chemistry, environmental sciences, and clinical skills. - Springer Nature ExperimentsLibrary subscription. Not open access.
Springer Nature Experiments is a set of peer-reviewed, reproducible procedures or protocols for scientific experiments in the life sciences with step-by-step instructions in HTML and PDF and some streaming videos. 1980s-present. - SAGE Research Methods VideoLibrary subscription. Not open access.
This resource provides streaming video tutorials, interviews, case studies, and mini-documentaries covering the entire research process. - Locating lab experiment videos on YouTubeUse the "filters" to identify videos with Creative Commons licenses, sort by duration, date uploaded, etc.
- Lab Safety videosfrom NC Community Colleges BioNetwork
eBooks available from the University Libraries
Creating Web-Based Laboratories by ISBN: 9781852338374Publication Date: 2004-12-03Covers the transmission of real-time video and audio for internet experimentation. Provides detailed descriptions of how the various hardware and software systems can be seamlessly integrated for a complete internet remote experimentation system. Contains examples of real working experiments that are currently running.- Advances on Remote Laboratories and e-Learning Experiences; byISBN: 9788498306620Publication Date: 2007
Cyber-Physical Laboratories in Engineering and Science Education by ISBN: 9783319769356Publication Date: 2018
Web-Based Control and Robotics Education by ISBN: 9789048125043Publication Date: 2009-08-27
Virtual Microscopes & slide collections
- Virtual Microscope for Earth SciencesFree but requires login.
Examine 3D specimens and microscope images of rocks, meteorites & moon rocks. [See also https://www.virtualmicroscope.org ] - Virtual petrographic microscopeFree but requires login.
- Body tissues under microscope (SDK100)Free but login is required.
- Adipose tissue: virtual microscopeFree but login is required.
This slide collection includes one set of slides with brown and white adipose tissue from normal or cold-adapted rats. It illustrates the development of brown (thermogenic) adipose tissue in cold-adapted animals. - Basalt lava flow and volcanic tuff virtual microscopeFree but login required.
- Microscope basicsNC Community College BioNetwork's Virtual Microscope
- Histology (with link to Histology Lite Mobile App)From University of Michigan. [Note: uses AdobeFlash for which support will be discontinued as of December 2020.]
- Virtual Microscope from UIUCCurrently providing 90 samples totaling over 62 gigapixels of image data. The Virtual Microscope, which is available for free download supports functionality from electron, light, and scanning probe microscopes, datasets for these instruments, training materials to learn more about microscopy, and other related tools. The project is open source and the code is available on Sourceforge.
Finding Remote Laboratories
- Virtual and Remote Laboratory (VR-Lab) in the Department of Engineering at Texas Southern University (TSU)Virtual Lab: http://vr-lab.engineeringtech.tsu.edu/index.php/Virtual_Lab Remote Lab contact: https://coset.tsu.edu/vrlab
- Fourier spectrums (OpenEngineering Laboratory)Free, but requires a log in.
- Robotic radio telescope over the web (ARROW)Free but requires log in.
- Fine Beam TubeFree, but requires login.
- PendulumFree but requires login.
- Virtual Ocean DivesFree but requires login.
Electronic Lab Notebooks
- JupyterLabProject Jupyter exists to develop open-source software, open-standards, and services for interactive computing across dozens of programming languages. JupyterLab is a web-based interactive development environment for Jupyter notebooks, code, and data. JupyterLab is flexible: configure and arrange the user interface to support a wide range of workflows in data science, scientific computing, and machine learning.
- ELN Features MatrixList of 30+ electronic lab notebook systems. Matrix provided by Harvard Medical School.
- Web-based, Free and Open-Source, and Proprietary ELN software16 various electronic lab notebook systems.