Carolina Biological has been in the laboratory supplies industry for nearly 100 years. Best known for their dissection specimens, Carolina has been offering hands-on distance learning labs for approximately 10 years. They have more recently expanded into virtual lab offerings.  

• Allied Health
• Anatomy & Physiology
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Environmental Science
• Forensics
• Geology
• Microbiology
• Physics

• Carolina's website includes a demo of one of their labs. You can access the demo here.
• To view a walkthrough of the Carolina curriculum, please select the link below.
  • Carolina Digital Lab Walkthrough

• Discipline Offerings
  • Carolina has an extensive number of labs covering A&P, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Microbiology, and Physics.
  • Carolina does support Forensics and Geology, but the number of labs are limited compared to the SI content.
    • They have 9 unique Forensics topics covered vs. our 16 concepts, with many lessons that are not relevant to forensics (e.g., fetal pig dissection).
    • They do not offer labs that would fit under the banner of historical Geology.
  • Carolina offers a limited number of GOB and OC labs under the chemistry heading. For organic chem in particular, this would not be sufficient for a course.
  • Carolina offers allied health, which is a discipline we do not cover.  
    
• Content Delivery - Carolina has historically provided their content through a printed or PDF lab manual that has procedures and a few questions. The Carolina Gateway platform is launching Summer 2023. See details below.
  
• Content Structure - Carolina offers limited introductory content and experimental support. The introductory content is majority text, very few images, and no interactives. Their experiments do not include set-up images and have very few support videos, leaving students to guess at how to set up their experiments correctly.
  
• Virtual Labs - Carolina offers two types of non-materials labs, dry labs and true "virtual" labs. The dry labs require students to source their own materials. The virtual labs are built using Adobe Captivate. Based on an overview provided at the OLC conference, the Carolina virtual labs are less focused on actual lab experience and more of a case study. This is in direct contrast to our virtual labs, which retain an experiment-focus.
  
• Assessments - Small number of assessments with no ability to customize or autograde. Primarily long answer questions, with observation and table fill-ins. Limited multiple choice assessments.
  
• Microscopy - Carolina offers a simplistic virtual microscope that is far less comprehensive than the V-Scope. Select this link to view the Carolina virtual microscope. They also offer a microscope for students to purchase; however it is a children's microscope (the box says for ages 3+), which is not equivalent to a microscope that should be used at the university level.
  
• Dissections - Carolina is a dissection powerhouse, as they are a leading vendor for these specimens. They are able to provide these cheaply, and offer a large variety of dissection specimens. However, they do lack any virtual dissection content.

Based on loss data analysis, our highest level of losses to Carolina are coming from the following disciplines:

• Chemistry
• Biology
• A&P

Based on our win data analysis, our highest level of wins from Carolina are coming from the following disciplines:

• A&P
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Micro

We have also won clients in GOB.

The information in this section was gathered by Pam and Corinne on a demo of the Carolina Gateway Platform performed by Leah Bishop.

• Availability
  • A&P and Chemistry in Summer 2023
  • All other disciplines 2024

• Platform
  • Clients granted access to all related digital assets (e.g., if there is a digital blood testing lab, they can grab that and not have to change their SKU).
  • Called Gateway because the content is "gated."
  • Clients can chose between platform and PDF content.
  • Content is ADA compliant and can work with screen readers. Highlighted ability to change font sizes.
  • Design Features
    • Chunked Introductory Content
    • "Knowledge Checks" - new formative assessments in introductory content. If students get question wrong, they get a hint with the passage from the background content and a second similar question.
    • Each new section contains a high level visual overview of the content (flow chart).
    • Glossary with key terms included.
      
• Experiments
  • Materials list with pictures of every item
  • Pre-Lab Assessment - students must get 100% to start the experiment for their safety. Unlimited attempts to complete.
  • Timestamps included for instructors to see how long students took on quiz.
  • Support Videos
  • Interactive checklist on procedures that will save if a student logs out.
  • Data collection includes data tables, photo uploads, open ended questions.
  • Students print results to PDF with time stamp, student name, and watermark for submission.
    
• Integration
  • LTI-based integration
  • Not yet single sign on (2024)

Full Audio Recording of Carolina Demo

• Cost (esp. Cost of Dissections)
• Simplicity of the PDF
• Ease of Implementation
• State Contracted Because Used on Campus
• Ease of Bulk Purchasing and Materials-Only Kits

• Customer Service
• Kits are Coming Incomplete
• Hard to Make Adjustments to Kit Labs and Materials

• Carolina Distance Learning Website
• Carolina Distance Learning Helpful Resources