Innovative Practice of Digital Experimental Platform and Social Media Synergy in Middle School Chemistry Teaching

Choi Hyoe  【Korea】

Abstract

This paper addresses the issues of limited experimental resources and insufficient student participation in middle school chemistry education in Korea. In response to these challenges, with the Ministry of Education's "E-Learning" strategy (revised in 2015), this paper proposes a teaching model based on the synergy of digital experimental simulation platform (VLabs) and a local social application (Band). By designing a chain of virtual experimental tasks and a real-time interactive community, a semester- practice was conducted at a middle school in Seoul, which confirmed that the model can improve the standardization of experimental operations ( 32%) and the frequency of classroom interactions ( 4%) without relying on high-end technologies such as VR. The research findings provide low-threshold and high-efficiency digital solutions for Korean chemistry teachers.

Keywords: Middle Chemistry; Digital Teaching; Experimental Simulation; Social Learning; Korean Education

1. Introduction: Urgency and Limitations of Digitalization in Korean Chemistry Education

Policy Demand

The2025 White Paper on Science Education" by the Ministry of Education in Korea emphasizes "deep integration of information technology into science practice" and clearly states the goal of achieving 0% of science classrooms with digital inquiry conditions by 2025 to cultivate students' scientific inquiry ability and innovative thinking. However, there is a significant gap between the policy reality. According to the 2024 statistics on education in Korea, the lack of experimental equipment in rural middle schools is as high as 67%, and many struggle to even secure basic chemical experiment reagents and instruments. The traditional classroom model, which mainly relies on teacher demonstrations, fails to meet the needs of inquiry-based learning as by the new curriculum standards, and students' opportunities for hands-on operations are seriously insufficient.

Real Dilemma

Although current high school chemistry textbooks (such as "Science2" and "Science 3") introduce multimedia resources such as micro-lesson videos and animated simulations in their chapters, these resources are mostly one-way playback demonstration content and students can only passively watch, lacking interaction with virtual experiments and unable to truly experience the process of chemical reactions and the fun of variable control; although VR laboratories can provide an experimental environment, allowing students to operate as if they were in a real chemical laboratory, due to the high cost of hardware equipment and software maintenance, public schools, especially those in economicallydeveloped areas, find it difficult to afford, resulting in a very low penetration rate of this advanced teaching tool, with only a few key schools able to use it

Innovative Direction

The author proposes a "lightweight digital tool combination" strategy: on the one hand, it develops a lowcost localized virtual experiment platform (VLabs) based on Web technology, which does not require installing complex software, and students can access it through the browser, with built-in rich virtual experiment modules, such as acid-base neutralization titration, molarity concentration preparation of substances, gas properties experiments, etc., supporting students to adjust the experimental parameters, observe the changes in phenomena, and record the experimental data; on the other hand, it uses social applications with high penetration rate in Korea (Band) to establish a class learning community, where teachers can share the experimental links of VLabs, operation guides, thinking questions, and other resources to the community. After completing the virtual experiment, students can upload the report to the community, discuss the experimental phenomena, raise questions, and even cooperate in groups to design virtual experiment schemes. Through a combination of low-tech threshold tools, the transformation knowledge acquisition to in-depth interaction and from individual learning to collaborative inquiry is achieved.

2. Construction of Innovative Models: Dual-Axis Driven Teaching Framework

2.1  Axis 1: Localized Development of Virtual Experiment Platform (VLabs):

Case: Digital Transformation of the Electrolysis of Water Experiment

Traditional Classroom Pain Points In traditional electrolysis of water experiment teaching, due to the extremely short duration of the experimental phenomenon (usually less than 10 seconds), students often find it difficult to clearly the change in the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen bubbles, resulting in about 40% of students being unable to accurately grasp this core experimental phenomenon, affecting their understanding and memory of principle of the electrolysis of water reaction.

VLabs Solution:

① Students drag the electrode components to the designated position through the virtual lab platform, and the system sim the electrolysis of water process in real-time, dynamically generating a chart of the volume ratio of hydrogen to oxygen, intuitively presenting the experimental conclusion that "oxygen is at the positive electrode and hydrogen at the negative electrode, and the volume ratio is about 1:2", effectively extending the observation time of the phenomenon, ensuring that every student clearly perceive the experimental process and results.

② When students make incorrect circuit connections in virtual operations (such as reversing the positive and negative electrodes, poor contact of the circuit,.), the system immediately triggers a "safety warning pop-up window", which not only contains text prompts explaining the cause of the error and potential risks, but also real accident case videos, deepening students' understanding of the standardization of experimental operations and safety awareness through visualized warnings, and avoiding safety hazards caused by improper operation.

(II)  Axis 2: Band Social Media-Driven Collaborative Learning

Establishing a "Chemistry Task Community"

Create a class-specific Band group, experiment previews (such as "Tomorrow's Lab: Homemade Water Purifier Material List", specifying the required specifications of activated carbon, gauze, plastic bottles etc., and safety precautions); students upload preview notes (handwritten manuscript photos or electronic documents), teachers comment and generate "Common Error Compilation", for example,izing and explaining issues such as "confusion of the unit of solution volume in the formula for calculating the amount-of-substance concentration" and "omission of the washing step", and attaching typical wrong question analysis videos; Carry out "Problem Solving Marathon".

Scene: Solution Concentration Calculation Competition

The teacher posts a store beverage ingredient list (such as a certain brand of orange juice with a sugar content marked as 10g/100ml, a certain brand of cola with sugar content marked as 11g/100ml), students group (4-5 people per group) to calculate the mass of sugar contained in different volumes of, and compare the sweetness difference between the two beverages, the winning group to win the "Experiment Assistant" qualification (can assist the teacher in preparing subsequent experimental equipment); Incorporate the life situation of South Korea (such as analyzing the sugar content of banana milk drunk daily by South Korean students, combined with the characteristics of dairy product consumption in South Korean diet culture, link to the STS (Science, Technology, Society) education concept, guide students to think about the authenticity of food label information, the impact of high-sugar diet health, and how to choose healthier drinks through chemical knowledge, and cultivate students' sense of social responsibility and practical application ability.

3. Practice Results and Data Verification (Se XX Middle School Grade 8,N=120）

Typical feedback:

“After repeatedly practicing the titration endpoint judgment in VLabs, I succeeded in the real at one go! On the VLabs platform, I can adjust the dripping speed repeatedly through virtual titration experiments, observe the subtle process of color change of the indicator, such the transition point from colorless to light pink, and the system can also display the pH value change curve in real time, which helps me to accurately grasp the timing of endpoint judgment This immersive practice allows me to understand the experimental operation steps and principles more thoroughly. When I really enter the laboratory to carry out the acid-base titration experiment, I can quickly accurately judge the endpoint and complete the experiment task at one go, which makes me deeply convinced of the teaching effect of virtual experiments.”

                                 ——Student Kim Min

“The immediate Q&A in the Band community has reduced the accumulation of confusion. In the teaching process, I found that students often dare not ask questions because of some basic or operational details, resulting in a backlog of questions that affect subsequent learning. As a real-time interactive platform, students can post questions they encounter in experiments, or doubts knowledge points, to the community at any time, and teachers and other experienced students will provide answers and discussions in a timely manner. For example, when explaining the spectroscopic analysis experiment, student had a question about the instrument parameter setting, and through the community, he quickly got a detailed explanation, avoiding the accumulation and spread of questions. This kind of real-time communication not only improves students' participation but also effectively solves the confusion they encounter in the learning process, improving the overall teaching efficiency.”           

——Teacher Park Ji-on

4. Discussion: Key strategies for implementation localization

Resource optimization

Make full use of the free experimental video library of the Korean Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) cut into 3-minute micro-lessons and embed them in the guiding part of VLabs. Specifically, select experimental teaching videos in the EBS video library that are highly with the core knowledge points of middle school chemistry, such as "acid-base neutralization reaction" and "substance amount concentration preparation", and process them simply by video editing software to retain the core content such as experimental principle explanation, operation step demonstration and key phenomenon observation, to ensure that the micro-lesson length is controlled within 3, in line with the characteristics of students' attention span. At the same time, the operation guide of VLabs virtual simulation experiment platform is embedded in the micro-lesson, guide students to carry out simulation experiment operation through VLabs after watching the micro-lesson, to achieve a seamless connection between theoretical learning and virtual practice, and to improve learning efficiency

Evaluation Innovation

Adopting a "dual-track credit system": Platform operation points (60%) contribution points (40%), which reinforces formative assessment. Platform operation points are mainly quantified based on dimensions such as the completion rate, operational standard, data accuracy, and quality of the experimental report in the VLabs virtual experiment, for example, students must achieve the correct rate of specified steps, error range control, and other requirements to obtain corresponding scores community contribution points include the quality and quantity of the content published by students in the learning community, such as experimental insights, problem answers, resource sharing, etc., as well as performance of participating in group discussions and mutual collaboration. Through the dual-track credit system, it not only focuses on the individual learning outcomes of students but also values their participation, ability, and knowledge contribution during the learning process, achieving a shift from traditional terminal evaluation to diversified formative evaluation, and fully stimulating students' learning initiative and creativity.

Te Collaboration

Establish a regional teacher alliance (such as the Seoul Chemistry Teacher Band Group) to share self-made digital cases. This alliance can regularly organize online seminars to exchange and topics such as the application skills of the VLabs platform, experimental teaching design, and the breakthrough of student learning difficulties; at the same time, encourage teachers to upload high-quality cases developed in their teaching practice, such as innovative experimental teaching plans, micro-course resources, interactive courseware, etc., to the alliance's shared platform for other to refer to and learn from. In addition, "paired assistance" activities can be carried out, with experienced teachers guiding new teachers to proficiently use VLabs for teaching, jointly the regional teachers' information technology teaching ability, and forming a teacher development community with shared resources and complementary advantages, providing a solid teacher guarantee for the localization implementation.

5. Con and Prospects

This study verifies the universality of the "lightweight technology combination" in the middle school chemistry classroom in Korea:

Innovativeness: For the time, the Band social function is systematically used for science education, breaking through the limitations of traditional LMS; by integrating Band's instant messaging, file-sharing, group discussion and multimedia release functions, a chemical learning ecosystem that integrates pre-class preview guidance, in-class real-time interaction, and post-class collaborative inquiry is constructed. Students share experimental design ideas, upload VLabs virtual experiment operation videos, initiate problem discussions, and get immediate feedback from teachers and peers in the Band group, effectively compensating for the lack social interaction and operational convenience of traditional LMS platforms, significantly improving learning participation and knowledge internalization efficiency.

Generalizability: All tools are for domestic platforms in Korea (VLabs development cost < 500,00 KRW/school). Among them, VLabs, as a domestically developed virtual laboratory platform in Korea, supports multi-disciplinary experiments such as chemistry and physics with high- 3D visualization effects and real-time data recording functions. Students can perform operations such as titration experiments and combustion reaction observations through touch screens or computers. Phenomena such temperature changes and gas generation during the experiment are presented in the form of dynamic charts, enhancing the intuition and safety of the experiment. Band, as a social application with high penetration Korea, does not require the installation of additional complex software, and both teachers and students can proficiently use its various functions, reducing the technical threshold and ensuring smooth implementation in different schools under different hardware conditions. It provides a low-cost, high-efficiency solution for schools with relatively limited educational resources.

In the future, it is possible to explore the sharing cross-school experimental data and the construction of a national chemical experiment database. By establishing unified data standards and secure transmission protocols, schools can anonymously upload the experimental data completed by students in VLabs (such as reaction rate, material concentration change curve, etc.) to a shared platform, forming a massive experimental data set including different regions and different teaching methods. can perform horizontal comparative analysis based on this database to optimize experimental teaching design; students can expand their thinking breadth and understand the universality and particularity of experimental phenomena by viewing the experimental of other schools. In addition, combined with AI algorithms, experimental data can be deeply mined and personalized learning reports can be automatically generated to provide data support for individualized teaching, promoting the digital and intelligent development of middle school chemistry education in Korea.

References

[1] Ministry of Education of Korea. (2023). "Gu for the Operation of Software Education in Elementary and Secondary Schools"

[2] Park S Y. (2024). Research on the effectiveness of digital experiments science classrooms. "The Journal of the Korean Chemical Education" 27(2)

[3] Kim J H. (2025). Collaborative model social media and science learning. "Proceedings of the International Forum on Educational Technology" Seoul Branch

[4] Lee M K. (2024). Analysis of implementation path of STS education in Korea. "Science Curriculum Research"