Improving engineering education through the use of advanced technology

Two important driving forces are presently impinging upon higher education in the US. First, public colleges and universities must prepare to provide higher education for an increasing number of students in the 21st century. A second force is the slump in the general economy of the nation and an overall trend in the reduction of funding for education. This paper describes an effort to integrate technology into the teaching and learning processes that take place in colleges of engineering. It describes the detailed reasons for using multimedia in engineering education. It explores the situations in which the use of multimedia is appropriate, and then explains how multimedia is developed and delivered in the typical engineering education environment. Several examples of engineering education multimedia products are cited with the logic behind development of various aspects of the packages explained. Delivery of multimedia courseware is also discussed with a number of alternatives offered. The use of compressed digital video teleconferencing technology to deliver multimedia is also introduced.<>