LabXchange – Connecting Students, Teachers and Educators of Life Sciences
L2C has been contacted by LabXchange to explore possible collaborations. We are excited to discover Harvard’s new learning environment. It seems inviting and full of potential. This is why we are connecting you today with this bright initiative.
Sponsored by the Amgen Foundation, LabXchange plans to build a community around the teaching and learning of science through a free online platform for global science education. The platform—which launched in January 2020—not only integrates the best of digital instruction and interactivity, but also connects students, teachers, and alumni in an online learning community for sharing and collaboration.
With an initial focus on the life sciences and related fields, LabXchange is building an intergenerational learning platform that integrates digital curricular content, dynamic experimental simulations and social networking—all to better expose students of varying backgrounds to the authentic and engaging experience of scientific discovery. LabXchange is being built on an open source platform (Open edX), and membership will always be free in order to increase the number of students exploring, succeeding in, and ultimately continuing in science.
Similar to L2C, LabXchange believes in equity, the value of scientific thinking, and the transformative power of education. It is LabXchange´s belief that every educator and every student deserve access to high-quality educational resources, and should feel empowered to take control of their learning experience.
The LabXchange digital platform consists of two components. The first is an online learning environment that provides background content in biology and research methodology, coupled with interactives and simulations that allow students to develop their ability to think scientifically. Users can also mix and match the content into individualized learning pathways, allowing them to control the learning context. The second is a social learning network that allows users to connect and share materials curated from the LabXchange repository, as well as their own research experiences in the form of case studies. The combination of high quality content with sharing capabilities allows LabXchange to integrate knowledge-based preparation for lab research, all the while building a more powerful learning community.
Based at Harvard and sponsored by the Amgen Foundation, LabXchange is well positioned to serve as a creator, curator, and convener. Their network of partners includes top-of-the-line online content providers, scientific experts from world-class institutions, and a growing community of passionate, innovative educators.
From Harvard professors and public high school educators to instructional designers and industry experts, LabXchange brings together a community of experts who are passionate and dedicated to bringing science within the reach of all. We at L2C are excited and curious to learn more about and possibly collaborate with this fascinating and promising project!
