vLab: an Eclipse-based Virtual Laboratory

In modern education, and especially in the Computer Engineering field, integrating conceptual understanding with technical skills assumes a strategic importance. The new Information and Communication Technologies can help in addressing this issue allowing the implementation and the delivery of new advanced educational tools, such virtual labs, for fostering teaching and learning. In this work, we first outline the requirements a virtual lab must meet to effectively support students through the whole learning process typical of the Computer Engineering education. After validating the chosen approach by experimenting with a first, simplified prototype, tailored to the case study of the Information Security Technologies course, we refine our guidelines, then design a suitable architecture for the final version of virtual lab and finally propose an implementation based on Eclipse technology.