This virtual lab will revolutionize science class
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0:01 - 0:03Today, I am going to show you
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0:03 - 0:07how this tablet and this virtual-reality
headset that I'm wearing -
0:07 - 0:11are going to completely
revolutionize science education. -
0:12 - 0:14And I'm also going to show you
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0:14 - 0:19how it can make any science teacher
more than twice as effective. -
0:19 - 0:23But before I show you
how all of this is possible, -
0:23 - 0:28let's talk briefly about why improving
the quality of science education -
0:28 - 0:31is so vitally important.
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0:32 - 0:33If you think about it,
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0:33 - 0:35the world is growing incredibly fast.
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0:35 - 0:39And with that growth comes
a whole list of growing challenges, -
0:39 - 0:42challenges such as dealing
with global warming, -
0:42 - 0:45solving starvation and water shortages
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0:45 - 0:46and curing diseases,
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0:46 - 0:48to name just a few.
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0:48 - 0:54And who, exactly, is going to help us
solve all of these great challenges? -
0:55 - 0:58Well, to a very last degree,
it is these young students. -
0:58 - 1:02This is the next generation
of young, bright scientists. -
1:02 - 1:05And in many ways, we all rely on them
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1:05 - 1:08for coming up with new, great innovations
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1:08 - 1:12to help us solve all
these challenges ahead of us. -
1:13 - 1:15And so a couple of years back,
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1:15 - 1:19my cofounder and I were teaching
university students just like these, -
1:19 - 1:24only the students we were teaching
looked a little bit more like this here. -
1:24 - 1:25(Laughter)
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1:25 - 1:28And yes, this is really
the reality out there -
1:28 - 1:32in way too many universities
around the world: -
1:32 - 1:34students that are bored, disengaged
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1:34 - 1:38and sometimes not even sure
why they're learning about a topic -
1:38 - 1:39in the first place.
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1:40 - 1:44So we started looking around for new,
innovative teaching methods, -
1:44 - 1:47but what we found was quite disappointing.
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1:47 - 1:51We saw that books were being
turned into e-books, -
1:51 - 1:55blackboards were being turned
into YouTube videos -
1:55 - 1:58and lecture hall monologues
were being turned into MOOCs -- -
1:58 - 2:00massive online open courses.
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2:01 - 2:02And if you think about it,
-
2:02 - 2:06all we're really doing here
is taking the same content -
2:06 - 2:07and the same format,
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2:07 - 2:10and bringing it out to more students --
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2:11 - 2:13which is great, don't get me
wrong, that is really great -- -
2:13 - 2:17but the teaching method
is still more or less the same, -
2:17 - 2:19no real innovation there.
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2:20 - 2:22So we started looking elsewhere.
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2:22 - 2:27What we found was that flight simulators
had been proven over and over again -
2:27 - 2:28to be far more effective
-
2:28 - 2:33when used in combination with real,
in-flight training to train the pilots. -
2:33 - 2:35And so we thought to ourselves:
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2:36 - 2:38Why not just apply that to science?
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2:38 - 2:42Why not build a virtual
laboratory simulator? -
2:44 - 2:45Well, we did it.
-
2:45 - 2:47We basically set out to create
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2:47 - 2:52a fully simulated, one-to-one,
virtual reality laboratory simulator, -
2:52 - 2:55where the students
could perform experiments -
2:55 - 2:56with mathematical equations
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2:56 - 3:00that would simulate what would
happen in a real-world lab. -
3:00 - 3:01But not just simple simulations --
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3:01 - 3:03we would also create advanced simulations
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3:04 - 3:05with top universities like MIT,
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3:05 - 3:10to bring out cutting-edge cancer
research to these students. -
3:11 - 3:13And suddenly, the universities
could save millions of dollars -
3:13 - 3:16by letting the students
perform virtual experiments -
3:16 - 3:19before they go into the real laboratory.
-
3:20 - 3:23And not only that; now,
they could also understand -- -
3:23 - 3:25even on a molecular level
inside the machine -- -
3:25 - 3:28what is happening to the machines.
-
3:28 - 3:30And then they could suddenly perform
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3:30 - 3:33dangerous experiments in the labs as well.
-
3:33 - 3:34For instance also here,
-
3:34 - 3:38learning about salmonella bacteria,
which is an important topic -
3:38 - 3:42that many schools cannot teach
for good safety reasons. -
3:42 - 3:44And we, of course, quiz the students
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3:44 - 3:46and then give the teachers
a full dashboard, -
3:47 - 3:49so they fully understand
where the students are at. -
3:50 - 3:51But we didn't stop there,
-
3:51 - 3:54because we had seen just
how important meaning is -
3:54 - 3:56for the students' engagement in the class.
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3:56 - 3:58So we brought in game designers
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3:58 - 4:01to create fun and engaging stories.
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4:01 - 4:03For instance, here in this case,
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4:03 - 4:07where the students have to solve
a mysterious CSI murder case -
4:07 - 4:09using their core science skills.
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4:12 - 4:14And the feedback we got
when we launched all of this -
4:14 - 4:16was quite overwhelmingly positive.
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4:16 - 4:18Here we have 300 students,
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4:18 - 4:21all passionately solving CSI murder cases
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4:21 - 4:23while learning core science skills.
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4:23 - 4:25And what I love the most about this
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4:25 - 4:29is really when the students
come up to me sometimes afterwards, -
4:29 - 4:31all surprised and a little confused,
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4:31 - 4:36and say, "I just spent two hours
in this virtual lab, -
4:36 - 4:39and ... and I didn't check Facebook."
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4:39 - 4:40(Laughter)
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4:40 - 4:45That's how engaging and immersive
this really is for the students. -
4:45 - 4:47And so, to investigate
whether this really worked, -
4:48 - 4:52a learning psychologist
did a study with 160 students -- -
4:52 - 4:56that was from Stanford University
and Technical University of Denmark. -
4:56 - 5:00And what they did is split
the students into two groups. -
5:00 - 5:04One group would only use
the virtual laboratory simulations, -
5:04 - 5:08the other group would only use
traditional teaching methods, -
5:08 - 5:10and they had the same amount of time.
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5:11 - 5:12Then, interestingly,
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5:12 - 5:16they gave the students a test
before and after the experiment, -
5:16 - 5:20so they could clearly measure
the learning impact of the students. -
5:20 - 5:21And what they found
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5:21 - 5:27was a surprisingly high 76 percent
increase in the learning effectiveness -
5:27 - 5:32when using virtual laboratories
over traditional teaching methods. -
5:32 - 5:34But even more interestingly,
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5:34 - 5:37the second part of this study investigated
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5:37 - 5:40what the teacher's impact
was on the learning. -
5:40 - 5:41And what they found
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5:41 - 5:44was that when you combined
the virtual laboratories -
5:44 - 5:46with teacher-led coaching and mentoring,
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5:47 - 5:52then we saw a total 101 percent
increase in the learning effectiveness, -
5:52 - 5:57which effectively doubles
the science teacher's impact -
5:57 - 5:59with the same amount of time spent.
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6:02 - 6:04So a couple of months back,
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6:05 - 6:06we started asking ourselves --
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6:06 - 6:09we have a wonderful team now
of learning psychologists -
6:09 - 6:11and teachers and scientists
and game developers -- -
6:11 - 6:13and we started asking ourselves:
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6:13 - 6:15How can we keep ourselves to our promise
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6:15 - 6:18of constantly reimagining education?
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6:18 - 6:23And today, I am really excited
to be presenting what we came up with -
6:23 - 6:26and have been working
incredibly hard to create. -
6:28 - 6:31I will explain briefly what this is.
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6:31 - 6:34Basically, I take my mobile phone --
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6:34 - 6:36most students already
have these, smartphones -- -
6:36 - 6:41and I plug it into this virtual-reality
headset, a low-cost headset. -
6:41 - 6:43And now what I can effectively do is,
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6:43 - 6:46I can literally step
into this virtual world. -
6:46 - 6:49We'll have some of you
in the audience also get to try this, -
6:49 - 6:52because it is really something
that you have to try -
6:52 - 6:55to fully feel how immersive it really is.
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6:55 - 6:58It literally feels like I just stepped
inside this virtual lab. -
6:58 - 7:00Do you see me up on the screen?
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7:00 - 7:01Audience: Yes.
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7:01 - 7:03Michael Bodekaer: Great! Awesome.
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7:03 - 7:06So basically, I have just
turned my mobile phone -
7:06 - 7:09into a fully simulated, million-dollar
Ivy League laboratory -
7:09 - 7:12with all this amazing equipment
that I can interact with. -
7:12 - 7:16I can, for instance, pick up the pipette
and do experiments with it. -
7:16 - 7:18I have my E-Ggel, my PCR
and -- oh, look there, -
7:18 - 7:21I have my next-generation
sequencing machine, -
7:21 - 7:24and there I even have
my electron microscope. -
7:24 - 7:28I mean, who's carrying around
an electron microscope in their pocket? -
7:28 - 7:30And here I have my machine,
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7:30 - 7:32I can do different experiments
on the machine. -
7:32 - 7:33And over here I have the door,
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7:33 - 7:36I can go into other experiments,
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7:36 - 7:38I can perform in the laboratories.
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7:38 - 7:40And here, I have my learning tablet.
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7:40 - 7:41This is an intelligent tablet
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7:41 - 7:44that allows me to read
about relevant theory. -
7:44 - 7:46As you can see, I can interact with it.
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7:46 - 7:50I can watch videos and see
content that is relevant -
7:50 - 7:53to the experiment
that I'm performing right now. -
7:54 - 7:55Then over here, I have Marie.
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7:56 - 7:59She is my teacher --
my lab assistant -- -
7:59 - 8:02and what she does is guides me
through this whole laboratory. -
8:02 - 8:03And very soon,
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8:03 - 8:06the teachers will be able
to literally teleport themselves -
8:06 - 8:09into this virtual world
that I'm in right now -
8:09 - 8:12and help me, guide me,
through this whole experiment. -
8:12 - 8:15And now before I finalize this,
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8:15 - 8:18I want to show you
an even cooler thing, I think -- -
8:18 - 8:21something you cannot
even do in real laboratories. -
8:21 - 8:22This is a PCR machine.
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8:22 - 8:24I'm now going to start this experiment.
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8:24 - 8:29And what I just did is literally
shrunk myself a million times -
8:29 - 8:30into the size of a molecule --
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8:30 - 8:33and it really feels like it,
you have to try this. -
8:33 - 8:35So now it feels like
I'm standing inside the machine -
8:35 - 8:38and I'm seeing all the DNA,
and I see the molecules. -
8:38 - 8:41I see the polymerase
and the enzymes and so forth. -
8:41 - 8:43And I can see how in this case,
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8:43 - 8:46DNA is being replicated millions of times,
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8:46 - 8:49just like it's happening
inside your body right now. -
8:49 - 8:53And I can really feel and understand
how all of this works. -
8:54 - 8:58Now, I hope that gives you
a little bit of a sense -
8:58 - 9:02of the possibilities
in these new teaching methods. -
9:04 - 9:06And I want to also emphasize
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9:06 - 9:09that everything you just saw
also works on iPads and laptops -
9:09 - 9:10without the headsets.
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9:11 - 9:13I say that for a very important reason.
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9:13 - 9:17In order for us to really
empower and inspire -
9:17 - 9:19the next generation of scientists,
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9:19 - 9:23we really need teachers
to drive the adoption -
9:23 - 9:25of new technologies in the classroom.
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9:27 - 9:28And so in many ways,
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9:28 - 9:33I believe that the next big,
quantum leap in science education -
9:33 - 9:35lies no longer with the technology,
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9:35 - 9:37but rather with the teachers' decision
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9:37 - 9:40to push forward and adopt
these technologies -
9:40 - 9:42inside the classrooms.
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9:42 - 9:46And so it is our hope that more
universities and schools and teachers -
9:46 - 9:49will collaborate with technology companies
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9:49 - 9:51to realize this full potential.
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9:53 - 9:54And so,
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9:54 - 9:57lastly, I'd like to leave you
with a little story -
9:57 - 9:59that really inspires me.
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9:59 - 10:01And that is the story of Jack Andraka.
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10:01 - 10:03Some of you might already know him.
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10:03 - 10:10Jack invented a new, groundbreaking
low-cost test for pancreatic cancer -
10:10 - 10:13at the age 15.
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10:14 - 10:17And when Jack shares his story
of how he did this huge breakthrough, -
10:18 - 10:21he also explains that one thing
almost prevented him -
10:21 - 10:23from making this breakthrough.
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10:24 - 10:29And that was that he did not
have access to real laboratories, -
10:29 - 10:31because he was too inexperienced
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10:31 - 10:33to be allowed in.
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10:34 - 10:36Now, imagine if we could bring
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10:36 - 10:39Ivy League, million-dollar
virtual laboratories -
10:39 - 10:41out to all these students just like Jack,
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10:41 - 10:43all over the world,
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10:43 - 10:47and give them the latest, greatest,
most fancy machines you can imagine -
10:47 - 10:49that would quite literally
make any scientist in here -
10:49 - 10:52jump up and down out of pure excitement.
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10:52 - 10:56And then imagine how that
would empower and inspire -
10:56 - 11:01a whole new generation
of young and bright scientists, -
11:01 - 11:04ready to innovate and change the world.
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11:04 - 11:05Thank you very much.
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11:05 - 11:13(Applause)
- Title:
- This virtual lab will revolutionize science class
- Speaker:
- Michael Bodekaer
- Description:
-
Virtual reality is no longer part of some distant future, and it's not just for gaming and entertainment anymore. Michael Bodekaer wants to use it to make quality education more accessible. In this refreshing talk, he demos an idea that could revolutionize the way we teach science in schools today.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:26
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This virtual lab will revolutionize science class | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This virtual lab will revolutionize science class | ||
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Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This virtual lab will revolutionize science class | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for This virtual lab will revolutionize science class |
Retired user
Could it be that in 7:16 there should be E-Gel instead of E-Egel?