We are developing an educational resource center focused around the area of optoelectronic microsystems by integrating technology into education. The purpose of this resource center is to attract undergraduate students into this newly emerging technology and to be a key component in providing a well-rounded education to students in this area. Our goal is to satisfy the need of the local and nationwide industry for engineers knowledgeable in optoelectronics, microelectronics and the newly emerging field of microsystems.
To this end we are developing eight multimedia educational modules and combining them into a multimedia resource center for use in a technology-enhanced educational learning environment. The development of the modules is guided by experience gained from previous projects, where we identified both the content and form of effective multimedia modules.
The modules are constructed using existing software packages and combine text, figures, audio and video with computer generated animation within an interactive environment with a professional look and feel. The individual modules are being field-tested by embedding them into our existing courses and curriculum, where they link the subject material across course boundaries and are improved based on the feedback received through the assessment process. We also testing and evaluating the modules at a remote site in a distance-learning environment. Finally, we will disseminate the resource center nationally through our website, the NSF Digital Library, mass mailing of CD-ROMs and a commercial publisher.
