Abstract:

Two decades ago, a project was started to aid the programming-oriented community during their studies and work alike. Over the years the IPython program developed into a complete ecosystem with multiple applications and widespread programming language support under the Jupyter name. While JupyterLab is an individual notebook application designed for notetaking during programming, JupyterHub further extends its potential with managed server support. This solution among other features is capable of ensuring identical environments for the connected clients and the necessary computing power is provided by the server. Just like JupyterLab, JupyterHub is open source and its functionality may be further extended with modules, like the nbgrader. The mentioned extension enhances the classroom management capabilities and offers useful features for teachers.

The aim of this paper was to introduce and evaluate the usage of JupyterHub in a higher educational institution focusing on the benefits and drawbacks of the implementation of such solution. During the testing phase we mainly concentrated on the C, Python, Octave and MATLAB language processing capabilities. Secondly, we assessed the notetaking practices of the students and their attitude towards the newly offered notetaking solution. In addition, we documented the installation process for better reproducibility and implemented LDAP authentication system to ensure integration with institute’s already existing systems.

Keywords:

JupyterHub, JupyterLab, Python, MATLAB, managed learning environment.