Utilizing the Smart City to Train Engineering Students on Network Management Topics During the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the immense opportunities to make a communication network programmable, the virtualization of network functions and software defined networking are gaining momentum in both industry and research circles, being a fundamental skill-set for both electrical engineers and computer scientists. Therefore, in this article, we present and evaluate the educational framework for Service Function Chaining (SFC) practical teaching to undergraduate students aiming to prepare them for future Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and communication networks market that will demand skillful professionals in the domain. The educational framework was designed for the Network Management course at the University of Antwerp, with the goal to bridge the gap between network programmability concepts applied in industry and those taught at the University. We evaluate the educational framework with two extensive surveys as a feedback from students that provided us with the opportunity to measure and quantify students’ experience and satisfaction with the framework. In particular, based on the challenging environment imposed by COVID-19, we identify the gaps in this educational framework and address improvements for both theoretical and practical components according to the students’ needs. Our educational framework and the thorough evaluation serve as a useful guideline on how to modernize the engineering courses and keep up with the pace of technology.