The Open University’s (OU) world-leading online laboratory has celebrated its tenth anniversary, marking a decade of connecting students to authentic practical experiences and remotely operated equipment no matter what their location.
The OpenSTEM Labs challenge the traditional methods of STEM teaching and the need to be in a lab during ‘office hours’ by offering learning online where time and distance is not a barrier.
Back in 2013 the OpenSTEM Labs started life as The OpenScience Laboratory with the generous support of The Wolfson Foundation. Today, the OpenSTEM Labs now consists of five sub-labs with over 104,000 registered users making use of interactive instruments, remote access experiments and virtual scenarios using real data.
In total, the labs host more than 200 practical experiments and activities which are used in over 30 OU STEM modules with a number of these also being open to the public.
Dr Helen Lockett, Director of OpenSTEM Labs, said:
“Over the last 10 years the OpenSTEM Labs have gone from strength to strength, and are now fully embedded in our STEM curriculum, supporting STEM students across the Faculty. The OpenSTEM Labs are a fantastic example of what makes the Open University different and I look forward to seeing how they continue to grow and innovate in the future!”
During the pandemic, OpenSTEM Labs made a selection of experiments and activities available to other educational institutions for free, seeing a 50% increase in newly registered users.
The labs are continually developing and evolving to ensure the offering remains innovative for its users. Its newest sub-lab, OpenHealth, hosts experiments and activities used in Health Science and related qualifications.
Last week (27 September 2023), the team celebrated its anniversary with an in-person event on campus in Milton Keynes, with a talk from STEM Executive Dean, Professor Nicholas Braithwaite, and an opportunity to view demos of activities.
Dr Ashwin Vasavada, a NASA project scientist who attended the event, and is now an OU Honorary Graduate, said:
“I really enjoyed walking around the OpenSTEM Labs event, not only was it technically amazing, that you can have laboratory demonstrations being done remotely, but the way that it’s interactive and allows the students to operate the equipment themselves and learn interactively while doing that.
It’s so much like we do to operate the Rover on Mars, and all the other scientific experiments that scientists do all the time. It’s a wonderful experience that is offered to the students.”
You an find out more about OpenSTEM Labs and the opportunities on offer the website and on YouTube.
