e-learning in instrumentation and measurement courses

E-learning is the one possible evolution of traditional teaching techniques and is becoming a mature technology. Several commercial suites are available to author multimedia courses either to be distributed in physical form (e.g. on CD or DVD) or to be used on-line. However the application of these suites to the instrumentation and measurement courses and in general to courses that require students to learn the use of real devices is difficult and sometime useless. In this paper, some peculiar aspects of the instrumentation and measurement courses are discussed, focusing on the impact of e-learning techniques in laboratory activities. Practical hints coming from the authors' experience in several years of in-the-field trials are reported and discussed.