By: Marc St-Hilaire
The School of Information Technology is offering a Bachelor degree in Networking Technology (NET). The NET program focuses on the design, installation, operation and management of future complex information networks. One of the main advantages of this program is that it offers a strong mix of theoretical concepts and practical experience. This means that when students graduate from the program, they are well equipped to face the competitive IT market.
In order to deliver the practical part, most IT courses have a hands-on component. Due to various reasons (room availability, high cost of the equipment, security, etc.), these hands-on skills are learned in a lab environment where access is usually restricted to specific hours of the week. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to offer remake or even to allow students to practice outside the scheduled hours.
This is exactly what happened with most networking courses offered in the NET program. The lab component of these courses was based on the manipulation of real networking equipment such as routers, switches, access points, etc. Due to the high cost of this equipment, it could only be used under the supervision of an instructor and during the scheduled labs hours. However, after several requests for more time to practice with the equipment, we decided it was time to find an alternative and the perspective of offering online labs was evaluated.
To solve the issues mentioned above, the School of Information Technology invested in a solution called Netlab. This solution “enables organization to host real IT equipment, virtual machines, and lab content on the Internet to support IT training”¹. It allowed us to have access to the real equipment without having to be physically sitting in the lab. In fact, this solution is only adding flexibility to the regular delivery of the practical component; labs are handled as usual during the scheduled time slots but those who have missed the lab now have an option to catch up without being penalized. Also, since the system is accessible from anywhere at any time (based on a reservation scheme), it allowed students to practice with the equipment to finish their labs and study for exams outside the lab hours. Students who experienced both methods of delivery were all delighted to be able to access the equipment online.
In conclusion, online labs are adding flexibility to the delivery of the practical component. It also allows students to have extra time to play with the equipment and master the various concepts that are taught during the labs. The feedback received from the students was very positive and was also reflected in their final grades.