Practical activities in network courses for MOOCs, SPOCs and eLearning with Marionnet

In this paper, we present Marionnet, a virtual network laboratory, and how it can be used in distance education (MOOC, SPOC and eLearning classes) to implement practical activities in network classes that should normally require students to have access to specific hardware. Marionnet provides virtual network equipment such as routers, switches, computers and cables, and allows users to design a whole network on a single computer. The hardware in Marionnet is virtualized and can therefore be configured like real devices, making the practical activities that are using it very realistic.