Implementation of Augmented Reality in the Teaching of Computer Networks

Abstract

The advancement of digital tools has significantly transformed the daily lives of undergraduate students, especially in Computer Engineering, Informatics and Mechatronics. At the Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, located in Ocotlán, Jalisco, various technologies are used in computer networking courses, whose main objective is for students to develop interconnection, configuration, and communication skills between computers through switches and routers in a specialized laboratory. This communication exhibits the implementation of Augmented Reality as a teaching methodology, integrating guided activities through a website. The activities describe step by step the practical procedures, so that students can visualize the network devices “almost” in reality through interactive photographs taken with their smartphones or tablets, as if they were physically in the laboratory. Augmented Reality is implemented by combining digital information with real situations that appear in images. The website covers the topics of the subject, which are organized in chapters, which students can access through QR codes. Students scan the QR codes and can then launch the ROAR app, which adds an augmented reality experience to the content, thereby enriching their understanding and practical learning of computer networks.