Arizona Team/Community Of Interest
The GAZeL Innovative Learning Collaborative is forming a Team/Community Of Interest with other organizations to explore a partnership with Labster, the Virtual Laboratory Simulation Education Group based in Denmark. Current partners include the:
- Arizona Telecommunications and Information Council,
- Arizona Technology In Education Association STEM Collaborative
- Pima Community College
- Arizona State University
- University of Arizona
- Northern Arizona University
- Others business, education and community Organizations
Get Involved
We invite you to join us to explore interest, feasibility and a strategy to develop a statewide a statewide consortium and funding mechanism with Labster and K-12 schools, universities and community colleges to provide Labster virtual online laboratory modules for all schools in Arizona for free or low cost. A demonstration project in some rural Arizona schools is a likely priority. Labster has partnered with leading universities such as Harvard and MIT, and they currently have a project with the Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU. FYI, GAZeL has an ongoing relationship with Labster and has had very preliminary discussions with them in the past.
Consortium Possible Partnership/Funding Model
We could convene educators and organizations in Arizona to determine what modules we would be interested in, what modules Labster already has or would need to be modified, and or/what new modules we might want to have developed. Obviously a key question is how much it might cost and how would we fund it. We are envisioning a possible funding strategy, and maybe a consortium, where universities, community colleges and K-12 school districts might all contribute some level of funding. We would also explore other funding such as foundations, government grants, corporate contributions, and of course we want to know what partnership opportunities and funding Labster might be able to bring to the table.
Why This Is Important
Here is why we are interested. Virtual Laboratory Simulations can dramatically enhance student learning in science and STEM education when used to compliment or even replace traditional teaching methods. An independent University research study showed a 76 % increase in learning outcomes by using Labster’s gamified laboratory simulation, compared to traditional teaching, and a 101% increase when used in combination, suggesting an untapped potential for increasing the skills of science students and graduates. Imagine if students could have unlimited access to multi-million dollar MIT/Harvard-quality laboratory facilities anywhere in the world, anytime. (Labster).
Now imagine how Arizona could transform Science and STEM Education through Gamified Virtual Laboratory Simulations, especially in rural communities that do not have access to labs at colleges and universities.
Now imagine how Arizona could transform Science and STEM Education through Gamified Virtual Laboratory Simulations, especially in rural communities that do not have access to labs at colleges and universities.