ABSTRACT
The new reality of the coronavirus lockdown has prohibited the students' physical presence in laboratories. Administrators, teachers, and students had to think of new alternatives to hold meetings by adopting a virtual format through the development of rapidly available and broadly accessible online resources. Online Open Educational Resources (OERs) can be used in the form of cloud applications to virtualize computers or other physical sciences laboratories, which are necessary for the realization of the objectives of the courses. OERs can efficiently and effectively prepare students to be able to practice their skills. In parallel, OERs offer a degree of flexibility to the teachers, as they allow them to manage information in multiple ways and at the same time accommodate the presentation of knowledge from multiple perspectives. In this article, we propose the use of computer network simulation software as a teaching method in the form of OERs. In this context, we support the teaching of the administrative perspective of a computer network management course utilizing OERs. We explore the effectiveness of the network simulation software Packet Tracer anywhere in online learning of both synchronous and asynchronous education environments. In particular, we examine its suitability and usability in light of group activities at the level of higher education. We investigate its functionality and the teaching benefits that arise through collaborative learning scenarios in a computer lab suitable for the course of network management. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
During the Covid-19 pandemic period, the transition from a physical classroom into a virtual online environment led to the redesign of the teaching practices so that it is pedagogically and technologically adapted to distance education. The main questions raised by the research concern, on the one hand, the possibilities for improvement in terms of benefits through modern Information and Communication Technologies and, on the other hand, the directions for building optimal teaching and learning solutions for the existing teaching method. This paper aims to verify whether the use of remote online learning environments positively enhances learning outcomes. For this purpose, we used weighted online questionnaires, which we submitted to our students. In particular, we investigate the pedagogical effectiveness of the internet version of the “Packet Tracer Anywhere” as applied in the teaching of computer networking courses. Through the presentation of the positively enhances learning outcomes, we describe the benefits and the pedagogical significance of the operation as a whole. Teachers and researchers need to know in detail, in which way specific types of software’s as Network Simulator Software, activate students in distance learning and teaching situations. What we achieved through this research is to record the degree of activation and the degree of satisfaction from the involvement of the students in this specific educational environment. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Teaching in an electronics computer lab in a Vocational Education and Training (VET) environment, regardless of the subject matter, is a very demanding task, since it includes in addition to teaching, the individual support of each student or group of students per computer, the proper monitoring of the learning process, and the necessary demonstration of techniques or procedures to perform a task. The new reality of distance education during the covid-19 pandemic period, in addition to the above, requires a lot of changes in the structure, form, and content of teaching. Οn the one hand, the direct control of the course flow and on the other hand, the control of the virtual classroom in all phases of teaching, including the assessment process of the students. In this article, we focus on the use of Remote Access Technology (RAT) for the management of virtual laboratories in the context of distance education for the laboratories of the courses of Informatics and Electronics. The use of RAT in distance education enables teachers to a) directly manage the virtual classroom, b) provide immediate support for their distance learning students, c) have real-time instant feedback from the virtual classroom, d) receive the necessary snapshots of their virtual classroom in real-time, e) be able to supervise their progress exams, and f) to perform their educational work with relative completeness. To test the capabilities of RAT, we integrated a remote-control tool into the imposed due to Covid-19 Distance Learning circumstances and organized instructional scenarios for its implementation. Through virtual classrooms, we utilized the tool of remote support of teaching in distance learning circumstances for vocational specialties. A key direction of the research was to determine whether the process of remote control of virtual classrooms through Distance Learning provides opportunities for self-regulated learning and motivates students for effective Learning. The effectiveness of this technology was investigated through the observation of virtual classrooms, through the correction processes of the original design and retrieval of control, and finally, using weighted questionnaires. Through the graded questionnaires of the intermediate and final evaluation, we tested the efficiency, usability, and pedagogical usefulness of the method in a distance laboratory. The additional benefits for students are related to cognitive and metacognitive skills from the use of advanced teaching methods. © the authors, 2021. All Rights Reserved.