Teaching Using Virtualized IoT Devices

Kinesthetic Learning Activities (KLAs) are immensely valuable in courses relating to Internet of Things (IoT) development.KLAs enhance understanding of software, hardware, and their integration through hands-on experimentation in a physical lab/classroom.However, the shift from in-person to online classrooms, over the past year, has raised concerns about the viability of KLA based teaching.In this paper, we recount lessons-learned, challenges, and opportunities in moving from physical to virtual IoT labs.This is based on our experiences of conducting three online programs: two workshops on Pseudo-blockchains with Virtual Raspberry Pis and a graduate course in WSN development using TinyOS and Contiki.We discuss aspects of Kinesthetic learning that can be leveraged in an online classroom and the best practices in teaching virtualized IoT development.