University mails out science kits for online engineering degree

In 1970’s the Open University sent out experiment kits to students enrolled in science courses. Now, many online courses have adapted this technique and will soon send out circuit boards and kits to electrical engineering students that are enrolled in a master’s degree.

University of Colorado Boulder is the one of the first university that has stated its online course based degree. The curricula will be rolled in 2018-19. Students will be able to select from over 30 subjects. All courses offer video content, resources, reading materials and more. Many courses also include hardware and software kits that will be sent to students at home.

The kits are low-cost so that students can afford them. The kits will make technical assignments a first-hand experience and students will be able to receive immediate feedback. It will be a better learning experience.

Professor Erickson said, “It is obviously a very experimental programme. We have high hopes.”

Emeritus professor at the OU, educational technology, Mike Sharples says the new degree is “a brave venture to offer hands-on learning at home”, as sending equipment through the post is “costly and time-consuming”.

He also said, “The University is going to face challenges in producing, sending and maintaining the home experiment kits. I hope it will find new ways to sustain a combination of lab kits and online learning.“