USE OF E-LEARNING IN ENGINEERING

During recent years University Education has experienced important progress with respect to the resources used for lecturing. Techniques have changed from traditional blackboard methods to the use of projector transparencies and, later on, the use of video projector and PowerPoint, to present the content of the lessons. Nowadays, the use of these technologies has become more common and Modern technologies have led to the development of education mainly based on information technology and Communications.
E-Learning is a term which means that technology is used to support the learning process. Often the medium of instruction is through computer technology, particularly involving digital technologies. E-learning has been defined as "pedagogy empowered by digital technology". In most of cases, face-to-face interaction does not exist. E-Learning represents the newest approach to the permanent learning process, both individual and institutionalised, in the same time flexible and long distance accessible in the informational society.
E-learning is used interchangeably in a wide variety of contexts. This technology has a lot of uses. For example, in companies, it refers to the strategies that use the company network to deliver training courses to employees. While in most Universities, e-learning is used to define a specific mode to attend a course or programmes of study where the students rarely, if ever, attend face-to-face for on-campus access to educational facilities, because they study online.
One specific application of this new technology is Knowledge Pill that gives student knowledge without having to attend lessons. These pills are generally designed to guide students through information or to help students perform in specific tasks. The aims of these pills are convenience and flexibility to learners: the learning sessions are available twenty-four hours at day (24x7). Learners are not bound to a specific day/time to physically attend lessons. One important characteristic of the use of these pills is that there is no specific skill to be learned.
In this work, a learning pill has been used on a post-graduate course of Energy at University of Vigo. The use of these pieces of information has got a very good acceptation among the students of the postgraduate course. Moreover, improvement in knowledge has been observed during the lecture. In conclusion, it is possible to say that the previous acquired knowledge with the pill is useful for students.