BioNut and MedS are part of the coordination of a new Erasmus+ project in virtual laboratory training
Virtual lab training can cater for different types of learning abilities among students and offer a variety of techniques that might not be possible to teach/learn during an on-campus course. Karolinska Institutet, through the Biomedicine programmes, is coordinating the virtual laboratory training module in a new Erasmus+ project focusing on virtual/online practical training.
The need of virtual/online practical training became apparent during the corona-pandemic, but a similar project on virtual lab training as a pedagogic developmental project was already up and running on the Biomedicine programmes at Karolinska Institutet. Several courses in the Bachelor's programme in Biomedicine have implemented the use of digital lab with satisfactory response from the students.
KI is now coordinating the virtual laboratory training module in a new European Network for Virtual Lab & Interactive Simulated Online Learning 2027 (ENVISON_2027), which started in June 2021. The ENVISION_27 project is an extension of a current educational collaborative network, NordBioMedNet, with a specific focus on virtual/online practical training. Per Antonson, Lars-Arne Haldosén and Anna Wallén at the Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, and Rachel Fisher and Louisa Cheung at the Department of Medicine, Solna, are part of the Envision_2027-team at KI.
The project is addressing issues like the current need of complementing the traditional classroom teaching with digital remote teaching, as well as improving the quality of online teaching and e-learning course modules across Europe for the future.
Six European universities are involved in this Erasmus+ funded project: the Universities of Turku, Leeds, Bergen, Eastern Finland, as well as Åbo Akademi University, and Karolinska Institutet. It is funded under the EU Key Action 226, Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness for years 2021-2023.