reinventing the virtual classroom: delivering hands...

ReinventingtheVirtualClassroom:DeliveringHands-OnTrainingwithVirtualLabs

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©2009 Skytap, Inc. All rights reserved.

TableofContents

1. Today’sTrainingDeliveryChallenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. VirtualClassrooms:ReinventingtheTraditionalLearningEnvironment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

3. TheMissingComponent:Hands-OnLearning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

4. TheSolution:SkytapVirtualLab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4.1 ClassroomSet-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.2 ClassDelivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.3 ClassroomReuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

5. SkytapBenefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

6. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1. Today’sTrainingDeliveryChallenges

Thechallengesfacingtrainingorganizationscontin-

uetogrow .Companiesneedtoprovidesoftwareand

technicaltrainingforemployees,butareunderin-

creasedbudgetpressuretoreduceper-seattraining

costs and eliminate travel expenses . Furthermore,

training attendees areunder pressure to continue

theirregularworkfunctionsandoftendonothave

theluxurytoblockoutentiredaysontheirsched-

ule toattend training .Toaddress thesepressures,

we’veseenmanytrainingorganizationslooktoon-

lineanddistancelearningtosolvecostandlocation

challenges .

However, implementing effective distance learn-

ing and reducing costs is not simple . Emulating a

complex software application typically requires a

trainingenvironmentwithmultiplemachinespre-

configuredwithnumerouscomponents .Inaddition,

makingaclassroomenvironmentavailableoverthe

Webrequiresvirtuallabmanagementsoftwareand

aspecialized IT infrastructure .Finally,administra-

tionandmaintenanceof remote classroomequip-

mentrequiresfull-time,skilledtechnicalstaff that

istoocostlyformostorganizations .

1 WhitePaper»ReinventingtheVirtualClassroom:DeliveringHands-OnTrainingwithVirtualLabs


ReinventingtheVirtualClassroom:DeliveringHands-OnTrainingwithVirtualLabs

Thequestion thenbecomescan trainingorganiza-

tionswithlimitedresourcestakeatraditionalclass-

room environment online and achieve the same

learning outcomes? And simultaneously, can they

reduceequipmentandadministrationcostsforboth

traditional and virtual training? This is the chal-

lengethiswhitepaperwillexplore .

2. VirtualClassrooms:Reinventingthe TraditionalLearningEnvironment

Theprovenapproachtoeffectivetechnicaltraining

hastraditionallybeenInstructorLedTraining(ILT) .

Inthismodel,aninstructorlectures,presentsslides

anddemosonaprojector,drawsonthewhiteboard

tohelpexplainconcepts,andinstructsstudentsto

practiceusing the conceptspresentedby complet-

inghands-onlabsusingthecomputersintheclass-

room .Thestudents,all inthesamephysicalclass-

roomwith the instructor,eachhaveacomputer in

frontofthemforlabpurposeswherethesoftware

hasbeenpre-installed .Whenstudentsneedlabas-

sistancetheinstructoristheretoclarifyinstructions

andoffertechnicalassistance .



Taking all the various components of this rich

technicallearningenvironmentonlinehasbeenan

elusive but continuously pursued goal . Web con-

ferencing and online collaboration tools (such as

WebEx or Microsoft Live Meeting) offer the voice

conferencing and presentation tools necessary to

deliver the slide/lecture, discussion and white-

boardingcomponentsremotely .Withessentiallyall

learnersnowhavingaccesstonetworkbandwidth

speeds of DSL or better, the user experience of

using these tools has improved . Live video of the

instructorcanusuallybeincludedaswell,improv-

ingstudentengagement,andVoiceOver IP(VOIP)

technologycanalsobeusedfor thephoneconfer-

encingcomponent,furtherreducingcosts .

3. TheMissingComponent:Hands-OnLearning

Noticeably absent from the online version of our

idealtechnicaltrainingexperienceisthehands-on

labcomponent .Aftergoingoverconcepts(through

slide/lecture/demo/discussion)theeffectiveonline

course should make the learning practical by en-

abling students to “learn by doing .” No lesser an

authority than Confucius once said, “I hear and I

forget,IseeandIremember,IdoandIunderstand” .

Technicaltrainingwithoutthehands-onlabcompo-

nenttooeasilybecomesapassiveexperiencesimi-

lartowatchingtelevision .Thestudentisleftinob-

servationmode .Nomatterhowgoodthepresenter

orthedemo,thelearnernevergetshands-onprac-

tice with the software and as a result knowledge

retention rates suffer and skills are not learned .

Relegated to the role of viewer, the students tune

out or ‘change the channel’ by accepting easily

available distractions (such as email, web brows-

ing,workcolleagues,etc .)whichtheinstructorwill

likelynotevenbeawareof .

Introducing a lab component changes this equa-

tion and helps the instructor engage the students

andallowthemtopracticeusingthesoftwarebeing

taught .Toaddthisneededcomponenttoourvirtual

training,weneedanenablingtoolwhichstudents

canusetoapplytheconceptslearnedandsynthe-

sizeconceptualinformationintopracticalskills .

Manytrainingorganizationshavenotdiscoveredor

implementedsuchatool,insteadsimplyleavingthe

lab component out of their online course offering

all together . Alternatively, some organizations try

todistributetheirsoftwaredirectlytothestudents

to install on their local machines . Unfortunately

theseapproachesarenoteffectiveforachievingthe

desiredlearningoutcomes .



Fig.1Skytap’sVirtualLabSolution

4. TheSolution:SkytapVirtualLab

Skytap Virtual Lab provides a powerful and flex-

ible classroom environment accessible to instruc-

torsandstudentsovertheInternet .Justinthesame

way that aWebEx solution is available online for

presentation and audio conferencing, Skytap is

availableonlineforhands-onlabsandexercises .

Skytap isbasedonanewtechnologycalled ‘cloud

computing’ which makes computing resources

available on demand . As a result, Skytap training

customers have access to a large, shared pool of

virtualmachineswhichcanbeaccessedwhenever

theyarerequired .Computingresourcesarecharged

forbythehour,whichmeansatrainingorganization

can align classroom lab costs to student demand

andno longerhave topay forunderutilizedclass-

roomequipment .

Skytap’s has a powerful, self-service labmanager

application which enables instructors and lab

administratorstosetupandteardownlabenviron-

ments inminutes insteadofmanually configuring

labs .Furthermore,ITadministrationisdramatically

reducedbecauseSkytapisafullymanaged,hosted

service . Let’s explorehowSkytap isusedduringa

typicaltrainingclass .


4.1 ClassroomSet-Up

Aninstructorcancreateaclassroomtosuithisorher

specificcourseneedsandpowerthemachinesonin

amatterofminutes .BysimplyloggingintoSkytap’s

Webinterface,aclassroomenvironmentcanbecre-

ated using server and client machine ‘templates’ .

These templates can simply be images captured

from traditional training machines and uploaded

toSkytap,ortheycanbecreatedfromscratchusing

anyofthenumerousoperatingsystemsinSkytap’s

public library including Windows clients (e .g .

WindowsXP),WindowsServerandLinuxvariants .

Each classroom (or ‘configuration’) resides on its

ownprivatenetwork .Instructorshaveahighdegree

of control over the network settings in the class-

room,includingtheabilitytochangethehostname


Fig.2CreatingaClassroomLabfromaPre-Built‘Template’

ofavirtualmachine,usestaticIPaddresseswithina

virtualsubnet,mapnetworkdriveswithinthesub-

net,runtheirownDNSorWINSserverswithinthe

subnet andmore . Internet access from the virtual

machinescanbeturnedonoroff .

Duringclassthereisoftenaneedtoprovidestudents

withlabfiles .Inpreparationforthis,aninstructor

willtypicallydownloadmaterialstoasharefolder

onasingleservermachineinthevirtualclassroom

towhichthestudentmachinesaremapped .Inthis

waytheinstructorcaneasilysharethesoftwarein-

stallersandlabfilesrequiredforaparticularcourse

withallstudents .

Toprepareforacourseinwhichthelabsbuildupon

eachother,instructorscancreateasnapshotofthe

virtualmachines at the end of each lab . During a


4.2 ClassDelivery

Duringclassdelivery,eachstudentaccesseshisor

her dedicated virtualmachine desktop via Skytap

Remote Access, a standard web browser running

a Java applet, or via a Remote Desktop Protocol

(RDP) client .A student is sent auniqueWebURL

with the class registration email to access their

machine .Witha“fullscreen”viewoftheDesktop,

the studentmay soon forget that the labs are not

running on their local machine . In addition, the

instructor will have a cess to some very helpful

featuresincluding:

• ThumbnailView-theinstructorcanseethumb-

nail views of each student machine desktop from

a single web page . This allows the instructor to

easily monitor student progress during labs .

class, thisenables the instructor tohelpastudent

whohad troubleonaprevious lab to continueon

tothenextlabbyprovidingasnapshotofavirtual

machinewithpriorexercisescompleted .

Before a class, instructorswill invariablywant to

control what students can access and when they

can access it . Skytap provides full access control

settings .Abestpracticeisfortheinstructortocon-

figure Skytap settings specifying the hours when

amachineisavailabletostudentsandwhetheror

notthestudentcanpoweronthemachine .Because

machines can be accessed from anywhere, the

instructormay decide to allow students to access

machinesevenduringnon-classroomhours .


Fig.3Instructor‘Over-the-Shoulder’ViewforMonitoringProgressandAssistingStudents

Fig.4StudentsAccessVirtualMachinesUsingaWebBrowseroraRemoteDesktopClient


Instructorsfindthisfeatureveryusefulsinceitgives

themsomeinsightintowhatstudentsaredoingdur-

ingassignedlabs .

• OvertheShoulder–Instructorscanmonitorstu-

dentprogressand ifastudentrequestsassistance

during a lab, the instructor can easily access the

student’sdesktopandassist .Boththestudentand

the instructorwill see the sameviewof thedesk-

top simultaneously .Unlikewithweb conferencing

tools, there is no need to “share the desktop” or

grantpresenterprivilegesbackandforth .Thisfea-

tureincombinationwithanaudioconferencingtool

providesalabtroubleshootingcapabilityasgoodas

if thestudentandthe instructorwere in thesame

roomtogether .


• AddHardwareResources–ifavirtualmachine

requiresadditionalmemoryorprocessingpowerfor

a particular lab, the instructor can easily increase

the amount of RAM or CPU dedicated to thema-

chine,evenduringclass .

OneofpowerfulfeaturesavailablewithinSkytapis

theabilitytocreatevirtualmachine‘snapshots’ .Us-

ingthesnapshot featurethe instructorcan ‘savea

copyofamachine’atanytime .Thisfeatureprovides

theabilityfortheinstructor’ssupportstafftounob-

trusivelyhelptheinstructortroubleshootastudent’s

labissueonaclonedcopyofthemachinewhilethe

studentcancontinueontootherlabs .Oncetheso-

lutionisdiscoveredontheclone,thesupportstaff

candiscretelycommunicatethefixtotheinstructor

who can then knowledgably instruct the student

howcorrecttheissue .



Anotheruseofsnapshotsistorevertamachineback

toanearlierstate .Forexample,theinstructorcould

snapshotmachinesbeforealabthatdemonstrates

an irreversiblesoftwareerror . In thiswayyoucan

allowstudentsbroaderleewaytoexperiment .

4.3 ClassroomReuse

Onceasetofclasslabshasbeencreated,theycanbe

savedbackintotheSkytaplibraryasa‘template’of

theclassroomandeasilydeployedforfuturetrain-

ingsessions .Templatescanbecustomizedandan

instructormayfindthattheyliketoadjustthestan-

dard training templates used by their colleagues

tobettersupporttheirpersonaltrainingapproach .

Rather make these adjustments to each machine

in the classroom every time a new classroom is

created,theinstructorcanmakethesechangesonce,

snapshotthesechanges,andthenusethesnapshot

as their new template each subsequent time they

teachtheclass .

Atemplatecanbecreatedasjustonemachineoran

entireclassroomofmachines .Skytaphaspowerful

automation and deployment capabilities, so once

atemplatehasbeencreated,anewclassroomcan

bedeployedthroughtheWebinterfaceinjustafew

minutes,savinghoursofmanualset-uptime .

5. SkytapBenefits

Skytapprovides compellingbenefits forany train-

ingorganizationwithahands-onlabcomponentin

theirclasses .Thebenefitstypicallycitedbytraining

organizationsinclude:

Self-ServiceControlandProductivity

Instructorshaveself-serviceaccesstocreateclass-

roomenvironmentsondemand .Unlikemanytradi-

tionaltraininglabvendorsthereisnoneedtosend

anemailtoacquireaccesstomachinesoraddnew

machinestoaclassroom .Instructorshaveagreater

sense of control since they can add, delete, copy,

modify, and power on and off machines on their

own .Theuserinterfaceiseasytolearnandsimple

touse .

CostSavings

Mosttraditionaltrainingvendorschargebytheday

sothatwhetheryouaccessmachinesfor5minutes

or24hoursyoupaythefullprice .Furthermore,ma-

chinestypicallyhavetobereservedwellinadvance

andthereislittleflexibilitytochangelabsize(e .g .

addmachines or increase hardware resources for

individualmachines) tomirror changes in student

demand .

Incontrast,Skytaponlychargesfortheactualmin-

utesthatmachinesrunandmachinescanbeadded

ondemandfromalargepoolofavailableresourc-

es . Since instructors can power them on or off as

needed,andfeaturessuchas‘auto-suspend’ensure

machines are not left on inadvertently, significant

costsavingscanberealized .

StudentLearningExperience

Studentsfindtheuseofthevirtuallabenvironment

intuitive .Connectingto theirvirtualmachineviaa

browserorRemoteDesktopclient is simple todo .

Thelabmachinecanbeviewedinfullscreenmode,

makingtheexperienceofusingtheremotelabfeel

nodifferentthanusingtheirowndesktop .Ifthestu-

dent needs assistance during a lab, the instructor

caneasilyassist .Coupledwithawebconferencing

solution, SkytapVirtual Labsprovides the student

withanimmersivetrainingexperiencefordistance

learning .

ZeroITAdministration

The ITpersonnel inyourorganization responsible

for procuring, maintaining, and resetting training

machineswillbequicktorecognizethebenefitsof

usingSkytap .Theneedtoconstantlyupgradeequip-

mentcanbeeliminatedsincethepotentiallyheavy

processingandmemorydemandsonyour labma-

chinescanbehandledbytheSkytapinfrastructure .

Labor intensive cloningand softwareprovisioning

activitiescanalsobeeliminatedsincesoftwareno

longerneedstobeinstalledandconfiguredlocally

onyouroryourcustomer’shardware .

InstructorCollaboration

Instructorsareoftengeographicallyseparatedfrom

theirpeersandmisstheopportunitytocollaborate

witheachother .Skytapisanexcellentcollaboration

enablement tool for technical trainers . Instructors

canexplorelabscenariosandthetechnicaldetails

ofaparticularsoftwareinstallationtogetherjustas

if theyweresittingtogether infrontof laptopina

conferenceroomwithouttheneedtosetupaweb

conference .



6. Conclusions

Takingtechnicaltrainingonlinewithoutsacrificing

thequalityofthelearningexperienceisachallenge

organizationscontinuetostrugglewith .Manycom-

panieshaveyet toexpandbeyond theuseofweb

conferencingtoolsforonlinecoursedelivery .While

these toolsprovide theability to lecture, presents

slidesandwhiteboardconcepts,theydonotsupport

thehands-oncomponentsovitaltoeffectivetechni-

caltraining .

Skytapfills inthisgapbyprovidingahostedcom-

putingenvironmentthestudentscaneasilyaccess

and where the instructor has full control of the

classroom .Featuressuchas‘overtheshoulder’and

‘thumbnail views’ give the instructor a real-time

viewofwhatthestudentsaredoingandtheability

toofferlabassistancewhenrequested .

SkytapcanalsobeusedforstandardILTwherethe

instructorisinthesamephysicalclassroomasthe

students . With this model, instructors no longer

beartheburdenof lengthyclassroompre-configu-

rationtasks .Instead,anorganizationonlyneedsto

providemachinesthathaveaninternetconnection

andaWebbrowsertoaccessSkytapfromtheclass-

roomenvironment .

Whetherdeliveringclassesviavirtuallearningora

traditionalclassroomenvironment,Skytapcanen-

ableyourorganizationtomoreefficientlyandcost

effectively deliver training classes . It provides the

missing component of hands-on learning during

classesandhelpscreateagenuinelyimmersivevir-

tualtrainingexperience,whileremovingtheburden

and expense of costly in-house infrastructure and

maintenance .

Formore information, interactive demos andpricing

forSkytapVirtualLabpleasevisitwww.skytap.comor

callacustomerrepresentativeon1-888-SKYTAP8 .

Skytap,Inc.

614 1stAve .Suite200Seattle,WA98104USA

TollFree:+1-888-SKY-TAP8 (1-888-759-8278)

Direct:+1-206-866-1162

Web:www .skytap .com


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