With the Cyber Classroom, Evonik is opening up a whole new world in chemistry education

• A hands-on approach for students
• Innovative 3-D teaching and learning environment
• Interactive chemistry experience to be international

Evonik is adding a new dimension to classic chemistry education: the German specialty chemicals company is sponsoring the establishment of Cyber Classrooms program in schools, offering students a unique way to learn. Picking up where classic chemistry textbooks—with their two-dimensional illustrations—leave off, 3-D technology opens up innovative ways of conveying information. With the aid of special glasses, for instance, students can view three-dimensional molecules and chemical reactions in the classroom, making these concepts easier to understand. In another illustration of the program’s features, Cyber Classrooms also give students the opportunity to create and rearrange their own complex molecular models.

"As an educational sponsor, Evonik is pursuing its goal of getting young people excited about chemistry," remarked Klaus Engel, CEO of Evonik Industries, when he presented the Cyber Classroom at the Frankfurt Book Fair. "After all, an industrial nation like Germany needs qualified young people for its next generation of scientists. That’s why we’re investing in visionary technologies that give educators new ways of teaching and that revive students’ enthusiasm for learning."

There are some schools that already have Cyber Classrooms. Evonik spent the past few months helping ten German schools set up the virtual learning environments. Working closely with devoted chemistry teachers, the specialty chemicals company also designed 3-D study modules to accompany these entirely new insights into the world of chemistry. Visenso GmbH of Stuttgart developed the innovative 3-D teaching and learning environment, and Evonik works with the company as its exclusive partner for chemistry.

As an educational sponsor, Evonik is now—after having made a start in Germany—internationalizing the activitities in order to equip schools with virtual classrooms. Classes in other countries should benefit from this new way of teaching, too. The Group has thus seen to it that the chemistry study modules are made immediately available in German, English, Flemish and French, for instance, and is also making modules available for other disciplines, such as mathematics, physics, art, and biology.