Feasibility Of Totally Distance Oriented Eet/Cet Programs

This paper addresses the problem of delivering an effective “hands-on” learning experience in a purely distance education program within electronic engineering technology (EET) and computer engineering technology (CET). Experiential learning has long been considered to be a necessary pedagogical component in engineering technology. It is generally accepted that a graduate needs “hands-on” experience to be successful as an entry-level technologist in industry. An examination of undergraduate programs offered in a distance education format reveals that engineering technology programs are conspicuous by their absence. We believe this is because there are no established means to deliver the “hands-on” experiential or laboratory component remotely. While much progress has been made in distance laboratories (virtual and remote-controlled), they do not, as yet, represent an acceptable replacement. When faced with the need or opportunity for a distance engineering technology program, institutions have addressed this by creating hybrid courses. Delivery of the lecture content is typically done in a format similar to what other disciplines do, i.e. internetbased video (synchronous or asynchronous), downloadable documents, discussion forums, email exchanges, all structured within a course delivery system. The experiential component is delivered by requiring students to attend laboratory sessions in some facility near their location, or to visit the hosting institution at periodic intervals. Instructors are sometimes dispatched to remote locations when required to oversee these activities. These sessions are usually conducted a few times each semester to minimize travel. Multiple experiments are performed during each session which often requires that the sessions last a full day.