This project develops a mobile/portable software system for delivering hands-on computer intensive educational workshops, including the areas of computer security and information assurance. This project builds on a prior NSF CCLI Phase 1 project to develop a laptop-based computer security workshop for computer science instructors. The three major goals of this project are to (1) further develop a mobile wireless computer network management system that can be used in a variety of security education workshops scenarios and can be quickly installed on participants' laptop computers from a portable storage device (such as a USB drive) given a minimal subset of memory, disk and software requirements, (2) package this functionality with an easy-to-use interface that can be used by content developers and presenters, and (3) demonstrate the value of this system to educators by presenting a mobile hands-on computer security workshop to educators and teaching them how to use this system for their own workshops and classroom. The intellectual merit of this project is the contribution of an easy-to-use software system that allows for custom configuration and real-time management of a computer network of virtual computer systems for educational training, workshops and laboratories. The broader impact of this project is that it promotes better teaching, learning, and training by allowing more realistic and dynamic scenarios involving hands-on computer activities using flexible computer network environments. This system is made freely available to educators for use in their own environments, allowing them to develop their own content and further spread the value of this type of environment.
