Interactive multimedia and distance learning

Abstract

The advancement in technology is shaping every aspect of our life, including education. One decade ago, the Internet was not critical to education. However, now, it has become an integral part of learning process. In this study, it is argued that simply presenting non-interactive text-based information to online learners may not be the best way for distance learning to occur in some abstract subject areas. In order to provide learning opportunities to online students, educational institutions continue to develop online courses that represent electronic versions of text-based traditional classes. These electronic versions often contain materials that lack any significant level of creativity and/or interactivity. This issue is magnified in some area such as Science and Engineering that require hands-on work. The focus of this study is on an Engineering Technology course, Fundamentals of Computer Networks, where the students are required to gain practical experience and/or need to have the means to visualize the network operations. © 2004 IEEE.