Instruction in 802.11 Technology in Online Virtual Labs

Contribution: A novel approach to remote instruction in 802.11 technology is described using the virtual lab technology. Background: Lab-based education has been a staple of computing education for decades. By interacting with the technology, students are able to gain a much greater understanding of the subject through hands-on activities. Recently, virtual labs have provided a mechanism to allow both co-located and online students access to these lab environments without the time, space, and monetary constraints of traditional labs. Computer networking and security is one area where virtual labs provide a highly useful testbed for learning security concepts. One problem is implementing virtual educational labs pertaining to 802.11 technologies given the inherently physical location-based nature of the wireless medium. Intended Outcomes: This article builds on work by others by developing and testing a new hybrid physical/virtual lab to enable students to learn concepts pertaining to 802.11 networking technologies remotely in a virtual lab setting. Application Design: The virtual lab environment uses the ESXi virtualization technology coupled with arrays of USB 802.11 adapters to enable the use of 802.11 technologies remotely. Findings: The experimental results show the proposed system to be as effective as a traditional physical lab environment with regards to usefulness, ease of use, satisfaction, self-efficacy, and exercise completion time.