Today more than ever before, we have access to new technologies which provide unforeseen opportunities for educators to pursue new innovations in online education. Pursuing innovation is a complex process! It starts with an idea, but that needs to be coupled with the right team of experts willing to take big risks and put in the hard work to build…

The functionality of web 2.0 technologies has caused academics to rethink their development of teaching and learning methods and approaches. The editable, open access nature of web 2.0 encourages the innovative collaboration of ideas, the creation of equitable visual and tactile learning environments, and opportunity for academics to develop…

Software for simulation-based learning of electronics was implemented to help learners understand complex and abstract concepts through observing external representations and exploring concept models. The software comprises modules for visualization and simulative manipulation. Differences in learning performance of using the learning software…

Natural catastrophes and engineering failures provide timely, motivating, and conceptually rich backdrops for learning. Engineering educators have long embraced case studies of engineering failures as a sound pedagogical strategy for meeting several learning standards, such as "design within realistic constraints", and teaching failure…

Environmental education and computers? That was traditionally seen as an antagonism. But environmental educators who compete for attention and face new challenges in an age of mobile devices, have begun to explore the opportunities that mobile computers may offer in supporting environmental learning experiences. This study investigates the impact…

A novel wireless communications systems laboratory course is introduced. The course teaches students how to design, test, and simulate wireless systems using modern instrumentation and computer-aided design (CAD) software. One of the objectives of the course is to help students understand the theoretical concepts behind wireless communication…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the use of solid modeling software increases participants' success in solving a specified technical problem and how visualization affects their ability to solve a technical problem. Specifically, the study sought to determine if (a) students' visualization skills affect their problem…

In this work, we analyze the results obtained by a group of freshmen students in a test of prior knowledge on technical drawing carried out before and after attending an introductory course on this subject. The aim of this course was to help students to gain knowledge necessary to take full advantage of the CAD software that is regularly used to…

In this paper we articulate an alternative approach to look at video games and learning to become a creator and contributor in the digital culture. Previous discussions have focused mostly on playing games and learning. Here, we discuss game making approaches and their benefits for illuminating game preferences and learning both software design…

There is a lot of software available for young children, but there are not many applications designed especially for them. This situation may be about to change with the release of BumperCar and a new version of KidPix, both of which recently earned awards from MacWorld magazine. In this article, the author describes this new software and how it…

There is a current vacillation in choosing hand or computer for design presentation in academia. Although the computer emerged as very powerful alternative presentation medium, it could not sweep away the hand totally. Believing that this vacillation cannot only be due to the positive and negative aspects of both media, we worked with a group of…

The authors' activities in co-teaching an engineering design course across the Atlantic, at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), USA, and at Delft University of Technology (DUT), the Netherlands, at the same time, required the use of information and communication tools for communication and collaboration purposes between students and between…

Project Data Tech targeted Spanish- and Haitian-speaking students of limited English proficiency at a high school in Brooklyn. Students who were admitted scored at or below the 40th percentile on the Language Assessment Battery, were new arrivals into the country, and wanted to join the computer-aided drafting (CAD) or cosmetology programs.…