Design of a Technology-Enhanced Pedagogical Framework for a Systems and Networking Administration course incorporating a Virtual Laboratory

Practical hands on lab activities are crucial to learning in fields such as computing, engineering and science. Advances in technologies have allowed the design and development of virtual and remote laboratories with many benefits overcoming constraints of physical laboratories. In literature, we observe a number of virtual labs implemented for systems-level courses in computing, using virtualization and cloud computing technologies. Although benefits of such technology-enhanced labs are well-known, the best approach to integrate these labs to achieve best outcomes for learning is still an exploratory area of research. In this paper, existing literature on virtual labs implementation for systems-level courses in computing is analyzed and classified into two stages of evolution. In the first stage, technical design & evaluation is the focus while in the second stage, pedagogy and learning theories and principles are used as the basis in designing technology innovations as well as teaching & learning activities. The second stage has the advantage of theoretical principles guiding the design of teaching and learning activities and technology artifacts with a focus to achieve learning outcomes and thus a higher potential to achieve learning goals. However, we observe only a few studies taking this approach. This paper presents the design of a holistic technology-enhanced pedagogical framework incorporating a virtual laboratory for a systems and network administration course. The framework applies theories such as Constructive Alignment for curriculum design and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, Bloom’s Taxonomy and Collaborative Learning to design teaching & learning activities and assessments. Technology artifacts such as virtual labs, a feedback tool, student and teacher dashboards, on-line quizzes and discussion boards are incorporated. Our future work will evaluate the framework in real class environments.