Labster Evaluation

1 Purpose
For this evaluation, we will give an overview of the Labster lab simulation platform and its pricing
model. Labster is an interactive advanced lab simulation for STEM subjects. A trial account has been
set up for IT Innovation Centre to test and run the virtual labs. Based on the testing, we will evaluate
its potential applications in the university scenarios and see how students could learn and benefit
from it. Finally, we will do the SWOP analysis and the evaluation matrix scores, and give our
conclusion and recommendations as to how the university can use the lobster lab simulation
platform.

2 The Labster Lab Simulation

Labster is a company which develops interactive advanced lab simulations for broad range subjects
including chemistry, sciences, medicine, and biology, etc. It aims to provide the educators various
laboratory simulations which can be used in teaching the STEM students. Labster launched its lab
simulation software back in 2013, so far it has created about 71 simulations, covering life science
topics – from a basic introduction to acid and bases where students perform a simulation of handling
corrosive chemicals and get to see the consequences of not following good lab safety protocol, to a
simulation of using a confocal microscope.

All the 3D simulations include game and challenges are designed to keep students engaged and
learning – such as mystery puzzles and multiple choice quiz questions, with text theory also available
for students’ references. The 3D environments are designed more like adventure games, meaning
that lab equipment can be interacted with and the environments can be navigated by clicking
around.

2.1 Why use Labster

Labster offers a great range of lab simulations, and the majority of the content currently available on
the platform has been developed by Labster working with the educational institute customers,
which include some high profile institutions, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the
US and Imperial College in London. Moreover, Labster has been used by the students and educators
from more than 150 institutions globally, for example, Harvard medical school, University of
Glasgow, University of New England, Roy Society of Biology etc.

The main reasons for so many users to choose Labster are:

 Improves student retention and outcomes

 Unlimited access to instrumentation
 Convenient laboratory access
 Fun and engaging 3D animations
 Easy tracking of progress & feedback
 Integrates with the LMS systems: Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle etc.
 Suitable for course re-designs
 Dedicated customer support
 Aligns with core science curriculum

According to Labster, they currently have 71 simulations available in total and should be on track to
grow that number to about 150 by the end of 2018. Labster also has the vision of using virtual reality

Ref: Labster Evaluation 07/03/2018,

Li Zhao, IT Innovation Specialist
[email protected]
in the lab simulation. Labster and Google have partnered together to develop the biology VR labs,
which will be available at the beginning of fall 2018 using Google Daydream viewers.

2.2 Labster Pricing

There are two pricing models to use Labster: institution account and individual student account.

Institutions pricing model Students pricing model

Pricing per semester
Functionalities: Price: $19 per month
 Full access to all 60+ simulations
 Access to all new upcoming simulations Functionalities:
 Integrate with LMS systems such as Blackboard,  Full access to all 60+
Moodle, Canvas, D2L etc. simulations
 Full teacher and student dashboard with detailed  Access to all new upcoming
grading simulations
 Learner’s learning insights and impact reports
 Personal training with a Labster Teaching Instructor No risk: cancel anytime, valid until
 Regional data storage compliance with FERPA, The the end of the month
Data Protection Act and more.
 Potential Research Partnership
Bulk offers for multi-year student licenses

2.3 Trial of Labster Lab Simulation

IT Innovation Centre is in talk with Labster and has a trial account set up to get the first hand
experience of using Labster. Before users can use the Labster, they will first have their user accounts
set up. Then, they can login to Labster by the supported browsers. After login, users will see a list of
courses subscribed. Select a course to begin, users will see the home screen like figure 1 depending
on the account types- instructor or student account.

Figure 1. Home screen for instructor account

On the home screen, it introduces how to start a simulation. And it gives the minimum technical
spec of the computers in order to run the lab simulations. In the full instructor account, users will

Ref: Labster Evaluation 07/03/2018,

Li Zhao, IT Innovation Specialist
[email protected]
see a CCX Coach tab on the menu, and users with an instructor right will be able to enrol students
using the students’ email addresses.

Click on the “Simulation” hyperlink, users will see a list of lab simulations and the theory knowledge
related to these lab simulations. Users will be able to bookmark the lab simulation, and the progress
of the individual lab simulation is also automatically recorded in the users’ account. Figure 2 lists all
the lab simulations available to the users.

Figure 2 List of Lab Simulations

When users start the simulation, Labster will load the simulation on the browser. The loading will
stop for a minute at 25%, then continue until the simulation are fully loaded. Figure 3 shows one of
the lab simulation scenes. Through tackling the tasks and answering the quiz, users will be able to
get an understanding of the lab and relevant knowledge.

Figure 3 Lab Simulation Scene

Ref: Labster Evaluation 07/03/2018,

Li Zhao, IT Innovation Specialist
[email protected]
3 Impact on Organisation
Labster’s target audiences are university administrators, professors, students and those who are
looking for better ways to teach their students STEM courses with technology.

For university administrators, Labster offers full integration with VLE, which can be embedded with
relevant STEM subjects. For teaching staff, Labster offers a big range of lab simulations, which can be
used as pre-lab, post-lab or even to completely replace the real lab in certain situations. It is an
enhancement to the course content, and will motivate and engage students with interactive games
and fascinate material. It also provides great accessibility because students can just access the
virtual lab anytime and anywhere with an internet browser.

Students in science, biology or medical subjects will find a great resource in the Labster lab
simulations. Labster allows students to attempt new techniques while making mistakes that won’t
cause safety issues or budgets. Further, as Labster introduces the lab procedures thoroughly, so
students get practice with details too. Labster can be used as a pre-lab to get students familiar with
the lab procedures and content, thus to increase the success rates in the real lab. Or, use Labster as
post-lab, to get students to review the lab and answer the questions, which will help to establish the
connections between labs and theory knowledge.

As discussed earlier, Labster offers two pricing models, student pricing model or institutional pricing
model. With the institution pricing model, Labster can be integrated with VLE, thus provide a better
track of the student’s progress in the lab simulation as well. It is more cost effective for students as
well. Overall, it is worth to try Labster, particularly for STEM subjects.

3.1 SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES
 Great lab practice as an introduction, a  Scalable online platform for teaching
review, or (sometimes) even a wet-lab STEM subjects
replacement  Growing demands for VLE and its
 A good enhancement to the lecture supporting tools
content for students in STEM subjects  Diversified teaching requires teaching
 Lab practices cover a broad range of staff to adopt innovative methods to
subjects, including chemistry, physics, engage with students
biology etc.  Increasing numbers of remote students
 Lab practices without the need for  Further development of the virtual
expensive equipment or an open flame reality technology can expand the
 Web based user interface provides Labster platform to mobile devices
good accessibility
 Improve learning through fun and
engaging ways as well as substantially
reduce costs
 Integration with LMS system such as
Blackboard, Canvas and Moodle etc.

Ref: Labster Evaluation 07/03/2018,

Li Zhao, IT Innovation Specialist
[email protected]
 WEAKNESSES THREATS
 Although designed to be user friendly  Other competitors in the virtual lab
and relatively easy to use, sometimes simulation development
there are glitches in operation  Teaching staff may provide resistance
 Depends on the network speed, there in using this tool, as they may prefer
is some delay when first loading the lab their own methods.
scene  Virtual labs based on Virtual reality
 No voice illustration available to headset may provide better user
visually impaired users experience

4 Conclusion and Recommendations

Labster is an interactive lab simulation platform for a broad range of science subjects including
biology, chemistry and medicine, etc. The Labster lab simulation incorporating games, challenges
and 3D animations in the design to keep students engaged and learning, but also with text theory
available for students’ references. It can be used as pre-lab, after-lab and even replacement of lab in
some situations. By practising the Labster interactive lab online, it provides students with unlimited
access to instrumentation and convenient laboratory anywhere and anytime.

Labster offers two types of accounts: student account and institution account. Student account
allows individual subscription, while institution account allows the Labster lab simulation set up at
the institution level. The institution account allows integration with the LMS system such as
Blackboard, Canvas and Moodle, which provides great convenience to track the students’ progress
and get feedback from the students, which in return improve student retention and outcomes.

The majority of the content currently available on the Labster platform has been developed by
Labster working with the educational institute customers, which include some high profile
institutions, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US and Imperial College in
London. Moreover, Labster has been used by the students and educators from more than 150
institutions globally. It is worth for University of Birmingham to try the Labster platform at some
selected courses first. IT Innovation Centre are in talk with Labster, and is going to organize a
workshop to introduce Labster to the potential interested parties such as our eLearning support
team, lecturers from chemistry, biology and medical school, etc. The workshop is to get an initial
understanding from the academics, and any further trial will be negotiated with the elearning team
and the teaching staff.

5 Evaluation Matrix Scores

Scoring
Area System Score Reason
1 = Idea Adopted by students and staff from over 150
Maturity 5 = Mainstream 4 institutions globally
Product
Technology 1 = > 3 years 5 Online platform, ready to be used either by integrated

Ref: Labster Evaluation 07/03/2018,

Li Zhao, IT Innovation Specialist
[email protected]
 (Adoption 5 = < 3 months with VLE or by individual subscription.
Timescales)
Business Integration with VLE may take some time, as well as to
Process 1 = > 3 years identify which department or school will need to use
5 = < 3 months
4
(Adoption the tool.
Timescales)
Identify the department or school, which will use the
Adoption 1 = v long time
5 = very short
4 product and integration with VLE will be the major
Overview
challenges to adopt the Labster.
Existing It is an enhancement to what university is currently
1 = v large impact
Technology 5 = very little
5 using, but not a replacement.
(Impact)
Resources 1 = v large impact Resources need to be assigned for Integration with VLE
5 = very little
4
Required and ongoing support.
Labster has 71 online experiment and is aiming to
1=very difficult provide 180 experiment by the end of 2018. Labster
Scope 5=very easy
5
can be easily expanded to other subjects.

1=very difficult Easy to use interface, occasionally with some glitches

Usability 5=very easy
4
Student account can use the individual email address
1 = very poor
Security 5 = excellent
4 to register and login, institution account can be
integrated with LMS logins
Innovation 1 = low innov. Labster provides greater accessibility for students to practise
5 = high innov.
5 lab in a fun and engaging way
Value
1=very expensive Comparing with the real lab instrument, facility and
Cost
5=very cost 4 resources, Labster is a good saving for these resources and
Effectiveness effective improve the success rate when in real experiment.
Labster provides lab simulations for a broad range of STEM
Adoption <20 - not ready
subjects, it is a great enhancement to the learning and
20-29 - emerging
Readiness 30-39 - Adoptable 39 teaching. It provides greater accessibility and saves on
Score >39 Fully Ready resources. It helps to engage students and improve student
retention and outcomes.
Note: Rows that have no highlight colour indicate the score value is not added to the adoption
readiness total. Instead, the overview score for that area is used as part of the total score.

Ref: Labster Evaluation 07/03/2018,

Li Zhao, IT Innovation Specialist
[email protected]