Engineering and the Question of Hands-On Training in a Virtual World

As the world of online education advances, more and more degrees are hitting the internet to give students around the world an expanding array of opportunities. As the technology with which to administer that education advances as well, professors and administrators are able to bring students online courses that were once never thought possible. Already, virtual laboratories are making it easier for online students to pursue applied science degrees. Now, electrical engineering is joining the fray.

This summer, according to the school's publication The Daily, Washington state's Higher Education Coordinating Board approved University of Washington at Bothell (UWB)'s bid to develop a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree to begin in the winter. This course, however, would be different from the average electrical engineering degree: instead of dealing primarily in hands-on work, it would join the programs at University of North Dakota and SUNY-Stony Brook as the only online electrical engineering degree programs offered in the country. Students will hear lectures via narrated PowerPoint, communicate with professors and each other via Blackboard and other social networking elements, and via virtual interfaces they will practice and learn.

Most recently, the program was evaluated by five external reviewers from other colleges. For such a new (not to mention out-of-the-ordinary) program, the evaluation was generally a success, with one reviewer offering critiques, another undecided, and three giving their stamp of approval. One of the approving reviewers, University of Calgary professor Mike Smith, nevertheless expressed his reservations on one aspect of the course -- "students wouldn't have ready access to components of the degree that would otherwise be offered in a lab," he feared, "such as physically connecting cords and handling magnets �� all of which will be handled on a Web interface instead."

It's a worry that prospective students have as well. The Daily spoke to James Overaa, who is considering the program for its convenience and the opportunity to schedule a bachelor degree around a full-time job and time with his family: "I have some questions as to how well you can teach electrical engineering online and at a distance... I know it can be done, but a lot of what I did at the community-college level and here at work was collaborative and hands on."

A college education is an extremely valuable thing, and when it comes to the unknown, it pays to ask questions. The effectiveness of this nascent degree will be interesting to observe, and those involved will have a lot to learn as they go. The very progress that has brought education this far, however -- the progress in communications and in programming that allow this class to exist at all -- are a very promising indication for the future.