The Council of Scientific and Industry Research (CSIR) in India and the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) signed an MoU to connect students and scientists via the “Jigyasa” program back in 2017. Now, the CSIR has introduced the first-ever virtual science lab in India to help students interact and connect with scientists across the country and learn about science and technology right from their homes.
Dubbed as the CSIR Virtual Lab (visit website), it was recently inaugurated by India’s Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh. The web platform includes numerous science-based content and activities for students to expand their knowledge in the science and technology department. Plus, the virtual science lab comes as a boon for students who could not visit an actual science lab in their schools and institutes during the Coronavirus-led pandemic.
What Kind of Content Can Students Access in the CSIR Virtual Lab?
Now, coming to the kinds of content that students can access on the CSIR Virtual Lab, there are a lot. There are educational games, comics, simulations, videos, and other interactive content that could help students learn about the basics of science and technology.
Students can access the content from the corresponding tabs on the website linked above, and each tab contains various topics for them to explore. For instance, if you are into games, there is a Games tab in the Activities section from which you can access games about the color-recognition, the periodic table, antimicrobial resistance, and more.
The platform also contains other forms of educational content such as educational comics and graphic novels, simulations and videos of various scientific activities, and infographics content to help students explore and learn about the vast universe of science and technology.
Now, coming to the language support on the CSIR Virtual Lab, the platform currently only supports English, which means that all the content is in the English language as of now. However, as per the ministry, support for Hindi and other regional languages will be added to the platform in the coming days.
As for the potential issues of the platform, there is essentially none except the fact that the CSIR Virtual Lab website is painfully slow in loading the content. The games, comics, and other interactive content take forever to load and it becomes kinda frustrating.
However, for aspiring students who want to explore fun science and technology projects but could not do so till now due to the lockdown protocols for COVID-19, the CSIR Virtual Lab is a great addition. So, if you want to check it out, head to the first-ever scientific virtual lab of India. Also, do let us know about your experience in the comments below.
