XR Trial For Networking Education
Researchers have tested whether extended reality can help students understand networking concepts that are difficult to see. The work focused on topics such as virtualisation, multi-tenancy and network slicing, which frequently remain abstract when taught solely through slides, diagrams and verbal explanations.
The study formed part of the Classroom of the Future initiative within the EU Horizon-funded 6G-PATH project. In collaboration with Aston University and the University of Leicester, it used augmented reality to present large-scale visualisations of 5G and 6G infrastructure. The aim was to make hidden layers of software and distributed systems more accessible to students studying networking.
The project did not seek to replace lectures or laboratory sessions. Rather, it examined whether extended reality could add value by helping students grasp difficult concepts, supporting engagement and delivering a more interactive way to teach technical material. The approach was created to work alongside existing teaching techniques.
Networking education presents a challenge because many of the processes students need to understand occur in software environments that cannot be directly observed. Traffic routing, virtual machine deployment, and resource provisioning all happen behind the scenes. Students are therefore expected to build mental models from diagrams or text descriptions alone. That can increase cognitive demand and reduce understanding. Extended reality offers a way to externalise those hidden processes by turning networks into interactive three-dimensional systems.
The first teaching trial took place at the University of the West of Scotland as part of the wider 6G-PATH programme. Twenty-six participants took part, mainly undergraduate students studying networking modules, alongside teaching staff. They used Microsoft HoloLens 2 headsets to interact with visualisations of virtual machines, containers, virtual switches and multi-tenant architectures. The sessions lasted between 60 and 90 minutes and were supported by a live networking testbed and remote computing infrastructure.
Each session followed the identical structure. Students were first introduced to the networking concepts and to the extended reality interface. They then completed guided interaction tasks before taking part in questionnaires and focus groups. This same teaching material and evaluation process was later used at Aston University with 30 participants and at the University of Leicester with 44 participants.
The trials showed that students were able to interact with systems that would normally remain abstract. Instead of only imagining how virtualised infrastructure behaves, they could move around network topologies, observe how components connected and see how distributed systems interacted across layers. The evaluation found that this spatial presentation made the relationships among components clearer for many participants.
The results also showed how the augmented reality environment changed the teaching process. In real time, educators were able to use live visual representations of system behaviour rather than relying only on extended verbal explanations. That gave them a different way to guide students through material that is often difficult to present in a traditional classroom setting.
The evaluation combined numerical surveys with qualitative input from interviews, focus groups and classroom observations throughout all three institutions. In total, 100 participants were involved. Together, the responses showed consistently high ratings for perceived acquisition efficiency and conceptual clarity. There was broad agreement that the extended reality environment helped participants understand how virtual systems connect and interact.
The trials also recorded a clear difference between working with a live network layout and relying on static diagrams. Participants described the visual setting as a more direct way to understand how virtual machines interact. The spatial layout helped some of them make sense of concepts such as multi-tenancy and network slicing in ways that lectures and laboratory work alone could not.
The structured pre-training used before headset sessions also appeared to help. Participants generally reported that the early introduction of key concepts helped balance differences in prior knowledge. That reduced the risk that students with less experience would struggle to follow the material from the start.
The study also identified limits. Participants were cautious about costs, even when they recognised potential efficiencies, such as reusable digital resources and reduced dependence on physical laboratory infrastructure. They were less certain about immediate cost savings because of hardware prices and setup requirements. Even so, the findings suggested that immersive visualisation could provide a useful alternative in cases where a physical laboratory equivalent is too expensive or technically difficult to create.
The trials additionally highlighted the preparation required for academics who want to use extended reality in teaching. Headset configuration, coordination with course material and the design of interaction workflows all took considerable time before the first session could take place.
Some students required more support than expected before they could use the setting effectively. Without organised guidance, the complexity of the visualisations could add to mental effort rather than reduce it. The key takeaway was that extended reality works best when it is introduced with careful scaffolding and clear learning goals.
The study points to a practical approach for educators. Extended reality appears most effective when used to address a specific teaching problem rather than as a general enhancement. It is particularly relevant for subjects where students struggle to build a mental model of invisible systems or spatial relationships. Networking, cloud infrastructure and information security are among the areas where the method may be useful.
The project has now completed teaching trials across all three partner institutions and has built a cross-institutional evidence base for extended reality in networking education. Next, the work will examine objective learning outcomes, long-term retention and scalability among larger student cohorts.
