Impact of new technologies on an electrical engineering distance education classroom

Advancement in technology has seen correspondence education evolve into distance education and eLearning. A large number of universities across the United States of America have established some form of distance education and/or eLearning in an effort to offer opportunities to many people aspiring to obtain an education, but with limitations when it comes to accessing institutions of higher learning. Most states have specialized high speed networks intended specifically for use to enhance education and make it accessible to virtually anyone with an inclination to attend school. The networks serve students in programs starting with K-12 up to college and university. The specialized networks are of the integrated service digital network type carrying lecture content, participants' video and audio signals. The networks are configured for point-to-point as well as multi-point connections. This paper discusses a synchronous electrical engineering distance education classroom, the associated technologies, instructors and students' perceptions as well as the program's effectiveness. Concepts of nanotechnology in this case nano-electronics as they pertain to lecture content and technologies used to deliver lectures will be discussed as well. Ideally the synchronous distance education classroom must be indistinguishable from the local classroom allowing the students to interact with the instructor and view the notes in real-time.