- What does Learning Ocean do?
It’s an eLearning site that helps learn Internet protocols interactively by simulation, not router hardware.
- What is network virtual lab (vlab)?
Vlab simulates network scenarios and animates network behaviors interactively. Our goal is to help beginners applying essential concepts to troubleshoot skills much faster than books and classes. A vlab includes 4 type of learning content: show, tutorial, tour, and exercise.
Shows. User can play and tooltip animation. For example, TCP vlab has 3 shows. User can watch how receiving an ack causes new packet transmission. He can tooltip topology, packets, sliding window.
Tutorials provide step-by-step description of network behaviors for each component. For TCP vlab, there are 10 tutorials (sliding window, handshaking timing diagram, sequence number chart, etc).
Tours are 1~3 minute video clips that introduce shows and tutorials.
Exercises are interactive questions with figures and mini-shows.
- What makes your eLearning different?
Vlab is made of dynamic and versatile cases. Each case illustrates network behaviors by simulation.
Vlab is focused on application behavior affected by network events and state changes. It links knowledge points to system and troubleshooting skills.
Vlab is highly interactive. Use can examine a dozen animators or change network configurations. Traditional eLearnings are interactive in playing, not content changing.
- How is eLearning market?
eLearning market is growth at 30% a year in U.S. and Europe. Corporation training is a $300 billion market. College eLearning market is smaller than traditional market (textbooks, classes) but grows much faster (15%). The potential end user market is even bigger.
Simulation-based eLearning is gaining momentum. Aplia started college economic eLearing in 2003. By 2008, it has 500,000 registered students. The economic course costs are around $60, $100, $400 for eLearning, textbook, and class respectively.
- Who are your customers?
Students who want to learn network but don’t have routers to play with.
Professionals
Engineers who want to take network certification tests (CCNA, CCNP).
IT professionals developing Internet applications are unable to find the impact of Internet on applications from books and classes.
Telecommunication professionals from telephony, wireless, cable, satellite need to learn more about Internet technologies as communication devices are converging to IP.
Non-consumers. Internet model is long tail, not hits. There are full of surprising users. For example, 40% of MIT’s eLearning users are non-students. Digital home users are deploying sophisticated Internet-based home applications.
- How do you compete with books and classes?
Vlabs complements, not competes, to traditional network learning methods. This is how we do it:
Tough to learn biking without a bicycle.
It’s also tough to learn internet without router hardware. Vlab can be used as a prelude of book and classes. Users can acquire basic feeling of networking by playing and troubleshooting vlab. Afterwards, reading books or taking classes start to make sense and not so abstract.
Cost. 80% of vlabs are free. Advanced content are subscription-based at very low cost.
Scenarios
Each vlab animates specific scenarios that tie-in application, system, and protocols. Books/classes focus on components, not scenarios, bottlenecks, troubleshooting.
- How is vlab related to web 2.0?
There are thousands of people sharing their network knowledge on the web, in text. With vlab APIs, they can share their knowledge via interactive animation.
- Are there any similar products around?
There are not many simulation-based eLearning sites. Here are some high quality eLearing sites.
Aplia uses simulation as part of its economics eLearning site. It is founded by a Stanford University professor and has over 500,000 registered students in U.S.. www.aplia.com.
W3Schools offers free web technology eLearing. It has 11,000,000 visitor/moth. www.w3schools.com
HeyMath! is a math eLearing site that uses animation. www.heymath.com
Starfall teaches pre-school kids English. http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f
- What is your business model?
We focus on solving the pains of learning Internet. A clear business model will take time to develop. This situation is similar to what Google was facing in 1998. Use Internet to revolutionize learning is a huge opportunity with many unknowns to explore. That being said, we are doing the following:
Micro-targeting
If one needs to learn how to trouble DNS problem, he can plays DNS vlab. It takes a few minutes to run and shows how DNS interacts with ping, traceroute, DHCP, gateway router. Buying a 500-page network book can’t find such specific information. Google search can find many text-based information pieces, but not a self-contained learning unit (scenario, tutorial, tour, exercise).
Free access. Most content is free.
Low cost subscription for advanced topics such as configure and troubleshoot network design.
Royalty from partnership with established technical publishers.
- Your roadmap?
2006 July Started
2007.December. Completed 2 prototypes. Learned how to find, hire, train, grow new graduates in China.
2008 December. Release 1.0: 5 vlab, 12 shows, 15 tutorials. Solved performance and scalability issues.
2009 December. 100,000 visitor/month. Make 1 vlab a week.
2010 December. 1,000,000 visitor/month.
- What is your engineering environment?
Platforms: Flash Actionscript 3.0, php/mysql, Linux for animation, web server, and simulation respectively.
All new hires take a 2-week OOD/UML intensive training with many rounds reviews.
Ongoing software process: Feasibility reviw, UML class diagram review, design spec review, code review.
- Can I see a demo?
Go www.learningocean.com. (Located in Hong Kong. If blocked in school, try it from home/Internet Café.)
- Can you sum up FAQ?
Learning Ocean is a startup e-Learning company located in Shanghai. It develops interactive networking vlabs that make expensive simulation technologies affordable for more people. Its product development uses various technologies: RIA, networking simulation, J2EE, RIA, Ajax. It provides API for community development. The culture is open, creative, and responsive. We respect individuals and drive for higher professional standards. We hire the right people and train them well. Direct experience is great but not a must requirement. We are hiring all the time: Love software, hungry to learn and want to achieve. Non-Shanghai residence and international candidates are welcome.