Flipped Classroom Model for Advanced Networking Courses

Gaining competences in the field of Computer Networks is almost impossible without practical skills. Since theoretical knowledge is not enough, courses related to networking, especially advanced ones, should put emphasis on gaining practical knowledge. Traditional classroom teaching style is not very well suited for that purpose. To try to overcome that problem, we decided to implement Flipped Classroom, with its learner-centric methodology, on some of our advanced networking courses. This approach leaves more classroom time to be dedicated to the higher level concepts, more hands-on practices and it should give students an opportunity to go with the lecture at his or hers own pace. In this paper, we introduce a concept of Flipped Classroom, discus its advantages and disadvantages and describe how we applied it in our courses.