Wednesday, 19 August 2015

Virtual Science Labs Educating Students In The Classroom And At Home

By Nancy Gardner


Students kept telling their teachers to take the computer lab out of the realm of being a glorified typewriter, and it appears that this is now beginning to happen. With interactive tools and classrooms that incorporate students from all over the world, school is becoming interesting again. The most popular materials are contained within the virtual science labs.

These programs can be utilized to teach everything from biology to astronomy, and more. It allows the student to engage in the learning experience rather than simply regurgitating what the teacher or their textbook dictates. This is an excellent approach for many students who seem to fall between the cracks in the old-style of teaching.

The variation in learning styles is a true phenomena, and often it is the young boys who fail to do well in the standard model. Note-taking and memorization are skills that girls often have well-honed, and these skills allows them to make good grades. It is being discovered that grades do not necessarily reflect what a student has retained in a class, and many students with low scores actually understand the material but are not able to regurgitate facts as well.

With young men being a more active gender, it is not unusual for young men to be the ones who need this hands-on style learning. While it is never recommended to ignore grades completely, teachers have learned over the years that good grades do not equate to success. The students who were taught to read through memorization words growing into functionally illiterate adults is one example.

For many parents, the struggle to find proper education for their children, especially boys, leads them to home schooling. This allows the student to have full access to guidance from the educator, or parent, whenever they need it. It also allows them to pursue learning in their own style and often at their own pace rather than being expected to fit into a one-size-fits-all learning model.

Homeschooling has allowed many failing students to continue with their education without the issues so prevalent in public schools. Many students are being salvaged in this way, notoriously scoring higher on SAT and ACT exams. Some of these kids would never have the chance at higher education due to monetary constraints combined with a learned disgust at school in general.

Not only do these laboratory courses provide students with a hands-on interactive learning experience, but students who really show promise are sometimes invited to pursue studies they are passionate about at the local universities. This opportunity, previously not extended to homeschool kids, can grant them the opportunity to utilize what they learn in a true white-coat setting. Additionally, they are granted credit toward graduation, and increase their likelihood of being offered a scholarship at that particular school.

The programs available to educators are also out there for parents to utilize. While many are focused on scientific studies, the same interactive learning media is available for many other subjects, with the same focus on the interactive contribution from the student. They provide an outline for the parents to follow when homeschooling their young people, or an excellent tool for teachers to utilize in the classroom.




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