Virtual Laboratory Advantages And Disadvantages

The merits and demerits of the virtual laboratory in engineering

Laboratory experience especially in engineering is a key factor to give technical education to the students. In the fast development of IT, virtual laboratory become an option in engineering field. The importance of laboratory experience in engineering education has long been recognized. The fact is, is virtual laboratory a good substitute to replace traditional laboratory or still have some weak point that need to be reconsidered in order to replace it? In this topic, I will discuss about the merit and demerits of the use of virtual laboratory in engineering.

Virtual labs use the power of computerized models and simulations and a variety of other instructional technologies to replace

The cost of setting up a virtual laboratory is relatively low compared to real laboratory. Students don’t need to bear again the cost of material needed in an experiment when they failed to do it, they can just repeat it by using virtual laboratory, without costing even a penny. Unlike the real laboratories, replacement are not required for virtual laboratories due to malfunction, damage etc.
With the application of virtual laboratory, Open and Distance Learning (ODL) become a reality. As we all know, with the development of ICT, engineering education through ODL is never a dream and Virtual Laboratory is also one of the ODL tool. It makes no difference for students to either conduct the experiment in a campus or doing it in their home. It is very convenient as student do not need to go to physical laboratories to do the experiment. They can conduct it at anywhere and anytime whenever they want.
As we all know, during the process of conducting an experiment, safety is the main concern. With the use of virtual laboratory, there is no safe concerns as compared to real laboratory. It is very useful especially when it comes to experiments that may cause harm to human