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Virtualisation and Visualisation – Improving Teaching and Learning in Computer Science

Virtualisation and Visualisation – Improving Teaching and Learning in Computer Science. Seán Duignan School of Science GMIT. Tony Hall Education Department NUIG. Background.

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Virtualisation and Visualisation – Improving Teaching and Learning in Computer Science

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  1. Virtualisation and Visualisation – Improving Teaching and Learning in Computer Science Seán Duignan School of Science GMIT Tony Hall Education DepartmentNUIG

  2. Background • The application of virtualisation technologies to enhance teaching and learning:– particularly in the subject areas of Operating Systems and E-Commerce Infrastructures. • Significant scope for application to other areas of the computer science curriculum also. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  3. What is Virtualisation? • It’s not new! • Quite simply – virtualisation is the abstraction of computer resources. • Processor virtualisation (through time sharing) since 1959. • Shared printers in office environments? • The Java Virtual Machine (JVM) – development & execution environment - abstracts all of the underlying hardware. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  4. What is Virtualisation? • Virtualisation creates an external interface that hides an underlying implementation. • Very useful for focusing on specifics. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  5. Abstraction is not always useful!! • Sometimes it is better to be able to interact with the actualrather than the abstract: e.g: To see or visualise the component(s) for oneself. • In a teaching environment though, this can be difficult to accommodate. • e.g: Providing someone with a machine to configure (format a hard-drive, install an OS etc….) Destructive and expensive! EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  6. Machine / Device Virtualisation • …. through the use of virtualisation software products that provide for multiple virtual devices within a single physical device. • At GMIT we used VMWareTM as a teaching and learning aid on a number of computer science programmes. • Provides for multiple “virtual machines” to run in isoloation side-by-side on the same physical machine. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  7. Virtual Machines / Virtual Devices • Each virtual machine has its own set of (virtual) hardware: • CPU, RAM, Disk, DVD-ROM, Network Interface etc. • ….. upon which an operating system (various) and applications can be loaded. • Within each virtual machine, the operating system sees a consistent collection of hardware, independent of the actual physical hardware components. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  8. Some screen shots….. • So you can visualise for yourself……. • Loading a virtual device • Device boot / start-up • Device execution • Device shutdown • Virtualised networks EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  9. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  10. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  11. Appollo EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  12. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  13. Appollo EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  14. Appollo EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  15. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  16. Appollo EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  17. Loading another virtual machine • Virtual machines are described in a configuration file. • The actual virtual hard-disk is also stored as a “file” on the host machine. • The two, together, make the virtual machine fully portable. • Lets load another virtual machine - a Windows machine this time…… EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  18. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  19. Thor EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  20. Thor EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  21. <CTRL> + <ALT> + <Enter> maximises the screen! EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  22. Virtual Networking….. • …….with just one physical machine. • Virtual machine can see, communicate with, log-in to, share etc… with the physical machine…… and vice versa. • Very useful for teaching and learning n-tier architectures and distributed systems.Visualisation facilitated through virtualisation! EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  23. Physical Virtual Although there is only one physical machine - this network contains two machines Both machines have full network access EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  24. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  25. Thor EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  26. Multiple virtual devices….. • No problem running multiple virtual devices. • even with different Guest OS’s at the same time….. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  27. Appollo Thor EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  28. Legacy Devices…. • We built some legacy devices too….. • Do you remember DOS 6 + Windows 3.1??? EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  29. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  30. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  31. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  32. Sean Duignan - GMIT EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  33. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  34. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  35. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  36. Our Study…. • We used VMWareTM as a core component on two undergraduate modules (year 3 and year 4). • 35 Students in total. • Motivated by a “learning by doing” philosophy of education. • Students assigned challenging group projects to encourage socially cooperative and reflective learning. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  37. Student Experiences…. • Feedback elicited through post-module surveys. • Largely very positive: “We both found this assignment to be a worthwhile and interesting one, it gave us a real insight…….. We would recommend that this exercise be kept as part of the course for future 3rd year classes. “I found I learned a lot about the workings of a computer and how different operating systems could affect the performance of a machine” EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  38. Student Experiences….cntd… “Overall I found this to be one of the more interesting things I’ve done at college. I liked the practical aspect of it and I found it easier to put more time in to it because it did interest me.” “We encountered some problems and errors, which gave us a better understanding of the operating system and how to solve such problems.” “The assignment was very good, doing hands on work rather than just reading about it.” EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  39. Lecturers experience…. • Lots of interactivity and discussion. • Students very engaged with the material. • “Hands-on” skills greatly improved. • Students appear to like the “secure sandbox” provided. • Some real creativity too. • Learning objectives / outcomes achieved??? EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  40. Conclusion • Significant scope for virtualisation technologies within the computer science curriculum and beyond. • Our experience has been positive, and in our opinion the exercises thus far have been very worthwhile. • We plan to continue with this research theme going forward as well as investigating the potential for virtualisation technologies as an ePortfolio platform for computer science students. EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

  41. Q&A and Contact Details Go raibh maith agat! Thank you for your time and attention. Questions? Contact Details: sean.duignan@gmit.ie Tel: (091) 742143 EdTech 2007 – May 25th 2007.

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