An MSc via the Internet
Bolton Institute and the University of Northumbria are running what is believed to be the first postgraduate course in the world to be taught entirely over the Internet
The new method of teaching and learning uses state-of-the-art technology, and is targeted specifically at people working in the Microelectronics industry - the very industry that made this new means of distance learning possible. It allows post-graduates to study for an MSc in Advanced Microelectronics at times to suit themselves, while being in full-time employment.
Course material is posted on the course's Internet server, to be accessed and downloaded by the students in their own homes. The material is supplemented by text books where appropriate, and by links to other relevant sites on the World Wide Web.
The MSc, which is modular, is designed to be completed in three years. It is intended to enable microelectronics engineers working in industry to keep pace with a technology that is evolving at high speed and learn new management and business skills.
"We are trying to give a rounded education to cover the business side as well as technology," says Roy Attwood, course co-ordinator at Bolton Institute. The course includes modules on project, human resource and industrial management as well as on microelectronic design, test and fabrication.
The third year of the course is devoted entirely to a research or development project, which the students undertake at their place of work under the supervision of both an academic and a work-based tutor.
Roy Attwood says: "This MSc is unique in that all students enrolled on the course are provided with a high specification PC, a subscription to an Internet service and a BT ISDN communications link, to allow them to study the practical and theory side of the course at home".
And, as an added incentive, we allow them to keep the computer and ISDN link if they successfully complete the degree.
The ISDN line offers higher speed communications and greater reliability than an ordinary line, and more importantly, it allows voice, data and video to be transmitted simultaneously - which is key for our students who need to have remote access to electronic computer-aided design (ECAD) tools."
This ability to remotely access ECAD tools means that our students can carry out design assignments from home, with performance comparable to a high-speed workstation."
If the student is having difficulty using the ECAD tools, it is possible for a tutor to take over control of the student's PC remotely and demonstrate one-to-one how the operation should be performed.
Most tutor support for individual students is done by e-mail which is also how most written assignments are submitted. The flexibility of this method was illustrated by a student who e-mailed his assignment from a hotel in the US late at night, just before the deadline.
The first intake of 11 students joined the course in November 1997 and there are now almost 30 students enrolled.
One of them, John Heart, who works for Signalfield LTD, in Purley, Surrey, says: "The great advantage of this course is that it enables me to work in my own time and does not require me to be away from my professional commitments. Although the coursework is demanding the challenges are stimulating and rewarding."
And Lee Hewitt, from Argonaut Technologies in Edgware, Middlesex, says: "Because I have a full-time job it would be difficult to find the time to do this sort of thing normally. I can get the lecture material whenever I want to, even if I am in a different part of the country or abroad."
The course developed out of Bolton's involvement with the DTI's Microelectronics in Business (MiB) initiative. In 1993 the Institute was a pilot Support Centre for MiB, and when the initiative was extended to cover the whole of the UK, Bolton formed a partnership with the University of Northumbria to ensure a high quality service to the whole of the North of England.
In 1996 the European Commission appointed Bolton Institute and UNN to run a Technology Transfer Node for the Esprit First User Action project known as FUSE. The project provides financial help for companies to use microelectronics for the first time in areas where it will increase competitiveness.
Companies involved in the MiB and FUSE programmes point out that suitably trained staff are simply not available from the open job market. The Advanced Microelectronics for Industrialists MSc course has been developed specifically to address these training needs, as well as providing students with a means of Continuing Professional Development.
Copyright EMTA Matters, January 1999. Published by permission.
EMTA Matters (Engineering and Marine Training Authority), January 1999, Issue 20, pages 16-17.