IEEE PDI: a gateway for lifelong engineering education

The IEEE Professional Development Institute (IEEE PDI) began as an experiment to use the Web for online courses and has developed into a clearinghouse of information and resources, including conventional and online graduate and short courses. Launched during 2001, the IEEE PDI site links engineers with learning resources from the IEEE, universities and commercial providers. This site also provides overview materials as a service to IEEE members and customers. One IEEE PDI challenge is the development of career "maps" useful for gap analysis and locating appropriate resources. The development of IEEE PDI dovetails with the NSF-funded DLNET Project headed by Virginia Tech in which IEEE, ASEE and Iowa State are co-PI's. This project focuses on bringing lifelong engineering education into digital libraries, and addresses issues such as pedagogy for online instruction as well as methodologies for collecting learning objects.