Improving the teaching of Computer Networks through the incorporation of industry based training courses

Computer networks are an integral part to the proper functioning of today´s society. They are also becoming essential components in almost all the software programs as well because of the need to get devices interconnected. As such, software engineers should be well prepared and able to use and integrate them. In this paper, we provide an overview of current Computer Networks teaching approaches at some current universities, and propose an updated curriculum based on the up-to-date approaches and our own teaching experiences. In particular, we describe our approach using the D-Link Baltija training courses, which are organized by the multinational company that makes network related products, to make the teaching more practical and up to today´s current developments. In addition, we propose extensions to the course, improvements that involve cooperation between remote institutions, namely Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) and Xi´an Jiatong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), to improve hands-on experience.