Labster excellent for microbiology virtual lab

How I Use It

I teach Microbiology for the pre-nursing program at Webber International University. Being a new program at a campus that was known for its business focus, there were no laboratories on campus. Teaching micro was going to be tricky, since it is a lab heavy course. I discovered Labster, which offers virtual labs in many areas of biology, including microbiology. The labs are focused, engaging, introduce content, and go deep into the focused subject. Some labs are quick, such as how to do a gram stain, and others are longer, such as the basics of immunology. Every virtual lab includes quizzes, and offers guidance to the student user.
I used the labs to cover an objective (Immunology), to provide students a substitute for an actual microbiology lab (staining), and for critical thinking activities (identify an unknown specimen). For the 16 week course, I assign 18 labs, that the students enjoy completing from their dorm rooms! The data is available to me as the instructor. I can see what the students started, what they completed, quiz scores, and more.
Labster virtual labs are high quality learning tools, and well worth the price, which is labelled as the lab fee and charged to the students, who will not need to purchase equipment, or lab books, simply choose and assign the virtual labs. The only requirement is the student needs to have a computer or iPad.