AN INNOVATIVE LAB ENVIRONMENT FOR SUPPORTING HANDS-ON NETWORKING EXERCISES TO DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS

摘要

This paper presents an innovative approach to designing hands-on networking exercises to support Distance Learning (DL) students. The telecom and networking curriculum requires a balance of theory and practice where students strengthen their learning of the theory through hands-on exercises at network labs. Hands-on exercise, as the name implies, requires hands on network devices for provisioning, configuration, and trouble shooting. With the significant growth of the Distance Learning students, it becomes a challenge to offer hands-on exercises to DL students. This paper presents three methods to address this need: (1) A Linux gateway for security control, (2) a terminal server for network device access, and (3) a web-based scheduling tool. The paper also discusses a major challenge which is technical support for the remote labs environment and presents solutions to address the challenge.