Very often, we complain about the pandemic on how it stops us from doing our normal activities or from going places. However, the pandemic also presented several opportunities that benefit many. Students and teachers can use Zoom at no cost. The USDA provided free school lunches to children regardless of their family income. With the lockdowns, museums such as the Louvre and the National Gallery of Art developed online tours so that visitors can continue to enjoy their virtual visits from home. Spectrum and Comcast offered short term free internet. Other organizations also offered free resources for parents and educators. For instance, BrainPop offered free access to their educational videos during this time. The Smithsonian website offered free resources to keep students engaged. This is how we stumbled upon Labster.
Labster is a virtual science lab simulation used by high schools and colleges. During this time, Labster allows free access to their program. While these labs can not replace actual science lab experiments, they are definitely the next best thing – being inexpensive to set up (in our case, it’s free), and enabling students to work in an engaging and safe space.