Talk:Internet Protocol Analysis/Archive

Design Philosophy

Welcome to Internet Protocol Analysis! The design philosophy for this course is:

1. Rely on Wikipedia resources for primary content. Rather than reinvent the wheel, or copy and modify it, this course will rely on Wikipedia articles as the primary reading resource for subject matter content. If Wikipedia articles are incomplete or inaccurate, our time and efforts are best utilized by improving those resources, rather than trying to maintain a separate copy.
2. Focus on learning by doing. Where we can add significant value is by identifying and sequencing Wikipedia articles and then creating learning activities that reinforce the content through hands-on investigation and discovery.
3. Design these learning activities as stand-alone lessons that may be used by themselves or included and reused in a variety of larger lesson plans or courses and then link to the activities.
4. Use lesson summaries and key terms to help learners focus on the important concepts and takeaways from each lesson.

Dave Braunschweig (talk) 18:08, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Course Sequence

Initial Sequence

The initial course sequence was:

1. Introduction
2. Protocol Analysis
3. Link Layer
4. Internet Layer IPv4
5. Internet Layer IPv6
6. Internet Layer Subnet
7. Internet Layer ICMP / IGMP
8. Transport Layer
9. Application Layer
10. Dynamic Addressing
11. Name Resolution
12. Routing
13. Network Monitoring
14. Network Security

For those who may have taught or taken a similar course using Guide to TCP/IP, this sequence should be familiar, but also slightly different. In my experience, students struggle with the learning curve over the first few sessions, which traditionally introduced Wireshark and IP addressing and subnetting, but without providing context in which to apply these concepts.

This sequence is intended to allow students an opportunity to become familiar with TCP/IP layers and Wireshark first, then look at IP addressing and routing, and finally investigate and apply subnetting concepts before moving on to higher layers.

Please discuss and provide either supporting or alternate perspectives.

Dave Braunschweig (talk) 18:18, 7 November 2012 (UTC)

Final Sequence

The final course sequence is:

1. Introduction
2. Packet Analyzers
3. Link Layer
4. Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
5. Internet Layer / IPv4
6. Subnetting
7. IPv6
8. Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
9. Multicast
10. Transport Layer
11. Address Assignment
12. Name Resolution
13. Application Layer
14. Routing Protocols
15. Network Monitoring

Packet Analysis became Packet Analyzers. The initial intent was to show IPv4 and IPv6 protocols side by side, but in practice that didn't work for ARP and NDP. ARP needed to come before IPv4, and NDP in Multicast had to come after ICMP. Subnetting as presented in most resources makes more sense after IPv4 than after IPv6. The Application Layer is moved down after Name Resolution so that students can understand the sequence of packets they see when capturing HTTP traffic to an Internet host. Network Security was removed so that the course only had 15 lessons. A separate Network Security course should be added in the future.

I believe this sequence is consistent with the protocols students will see as they capture traffic, and is broken down into appropriately manageable lessons so they will be able to retain the information without becoming overwhelmed by the steep learning curve experienced with a more compressed sequence such as that presented in Guide to TCP/IP.

Dave Braunschweig (talk) 17:28, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

Course Development Priorities

The course development priorities are:

1. Identify appropriate course sequence. This effort is nearly complete and awaiting peer review.
2. Identify appropriate Wikipedia articles and sequence for each lesson. This effort is about 75% complete.
3. Identify and develop appropriate activities for each lesson. This effort is about 25% complete.
4. Create lesson summaries for each lesson. This effort is about 5% complete.
5. Add key terms for each lesson. This effort is 0% complete.
6. Add review questions for each lesson. This effort is 0% complete.

Use the Discuss page for each lesson to recommend lesson content and sequence or appropriate activities that should be included.

Everyone is encouraged to be bold in enhancing the lesson summaries, key terms, and review questions. A collection of different perspectives will improve overall learning for students.

Dave Braunschweig (talk) 18:46, 7 November 2012 (UTC)