D4Science supports training and educational activities by providing a platform for interactive learning, data exploration, and hands-on experience with advanced analytical tools.
Challenge to solve
She wants to provide her students with hands-on experience using cutting-edge tools and techniques in a collaborative environment that mirrors real-world research settings. Professor Smith also seeks a platform that would allow her to easily share course materials, manage student projects, and track their progress.
How D4Science supports the user story
D4Science offers Professor Smith an ideal solution to create an engaging and interactive learning experience for her students.
- Professor Smith can make a request for a dedicated VRE for her course, providing her students with access to a wealth of resources within a secure and controlled environment. The VRE serves as a central hub for course materials, assignments, discussions, and collaborative projects.
- Within the VRE, Professor Smith can utilise StorageHub to share a variety of data sets relevant to the course topics, such as ecological surveys, climate data, or remote sensing imagery. The large storage capacity ensures that she can accommodate even large datasets. Students can access these data sets directly within the VRE, eliminating the need for separate data downloads or transfers.
- Professor Smith can introduce her students to a range of powerful analytical tools through the VRE, including JupyterLab, RStudio, and Galaxy. These tools provide user-friendly interfaces for coding, data visualisation, and statistical analysis. JupyterLab, in particular, allows for the creation of interactive notebooks that combine code, explanations, and visualisations, making it an excellent tool for teaching data analysis concepts. She can also utilise the CCP to make more complex analytical methods readily available to her students. For example, she could encapsulate a species distribution modelling algorithm as a web service, allowing students to easily apply it to different ecological datasets without needing to understand the underlying code.
- D4Science supports various programming languages, such as Python, R, and Julia, ensuring that Professor Smith can tailor the VRE to the specific needs of her course. She can also provide students with access to pre-installed libraries and packages relevant to ecological data analysis.
- The VRE’s collaboration features can enhance the learning process. Students can work together on group projects within the shared workspace. They can use the social networking features to discuss concepts, share insights, and seek help from each other and Professor Smith. Professor Smith can monitor student progress, provide feedback on their work, and foster a vibrant online learning community.
- Professor Smith can use the D4Science Catalogue to share course-related publications, tutorials, and presentations, ensuring that students have access to all necessary learning materials within the VRE.
