Interactive distance education for engineering outreach

This paper will present the experiences of using the Iowa Communications Network as a method of teaching engineering extension workshops. Relevant research in education, distance education, and adult education sewed as a basis for developing the content, structure, and presentation styles for these workshops. Techniques used to create an interactive experience for participants at remote locations will be presented. Discussion will focus on the experiences and success of using the ICN for short workshops and a brief comparison of the advantages offered by multi-week courses. Participants rated the use of the ICN for extension purposes a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.