E-Learning, the future of structural engineering education?

Abstract

In last years, the traditional blackboard teaching has been supplemented by visual aids like slide projectors and videos. The phenomenal growth of the Internet has brought in new teaching media, such as E-learning. Online courses and multimedia material over the Internet open the educational experience up to distant students without schedule restrictions, making E-learning an attractive option especially for professionals. Nevertheless, the overwhelming amount of material currently available might complicate the offer selection. Furthermore, internet globalization makes that quality levels of these materials might differ significantly. Aware of these problems, IABSE created the E-Learning board to address conveniently the online learning in structural engineering. Recently, the Association has created a new platform that aims to become a leader in quality online education. As a way to promote the use of this platform, the E-learning board proposes a debate focused on how the future of structural engineering education is linked with the different kinds of E-learning in both academia and industry training.