Virtual Labs: An Initiative of MHRD, A boon to Engineering Students

Sakshi Education

Engineering students do lab experiments in 3-5 member batches. While some of them are quite active in project, others would even understand how the experiment went on. This may be due to his lack of basics in the subject, lack of focus on the experiment or may be their discomfort with the process of project itself.

Some may try to do the experiment repeatedly until they secure desired result. Some may just copy the values from friends. With inhibition, some may not approach the HOD for permission, and some just neglect it. In some institutes there may be lack of apparatus and machinery so that the students can’t do some experiments.

So, what if you are the student, who is interested to do the experiment till your satisfaction? What do you do if the institute doesn’t have the facilities to carry on your experiment?

Here is the solution. The Ministry of Human Resource and Development has introduced a website - vlab.co.in under the National Mission on Education. VLAB, acronym for Virtual Lab, partnered with the prestigious institutions to provide virtual lab facilities, where a student can learn, see, do the experiments any number of times at his/her free time.

Objectives of the Virtual Labs

To provide remote-access to Labs in various disciplines of Science and Engineering. These Virtual Labs would cater to students at the undergraduate level, post graduate level as well as to research scholars.
To enthuse students to conduct experiments by arousing their curiosity. This would help them in learning basic and advanced concepts through remote experimentation.
To provide a complete Learning Management System around the Virtual Labs where the students can avail the various tools for learning, including additional web-resources, video-lectures, animated demonstrations and self evaluation.
To share costly equipment and resources, which are otherwise available to limited number of users due to constraints on time and geographical distance.

Salient Features of Virtual Lab

Virtual Labs will provide to the students the result of an experiment by one of the following methods (or possibly a combination)
Modeling the physical phenomenon by a set of equations and carrying out simulations to yield the result of the particular experiment. This can, at-the-best, provide an approximate version of the ‘real-world’ experiment.
Providing measured data for virtual lab experiments corresponding to the data previously obtained by measurements on an actual system.
Remotely triggering an experiment in an actual lab and providing the student the result of the experiment through the computer interface. This would entail carrying out the actual lab experiment remotely.
Virtual Labs will be made more effective and realistic by providing additional inputs to the students like accompanying audio and video streaming of an actual lab experiment and equipment.

How students can Use?

First, the student registers with the institution, which is free of cost.
Once logged in, the student selects the experiment.
Understands the theory with the help of videos, procedure notes and other material.
Conducts the experiment with simulation tools and/or remote machinery installed at other locations.
Records the values and takes a post experiment quiz.

Department-wise URLs for VLAB are listed below-