Multimedia courseware for customized learning environment

Presenting technical materials in distance learning format is a challenging task for educators. Many technical type courses are offered in the familiar asynchronous distance learning format, which has been available for years. Fewer courses, however, are offered in the synchronous distance learning format in which the traditional classroom settings are extended beyond the existing confines of the walls of a campus to distant sites. Assessment of synchronous and asynchronous formats is underway. Until now samples from these distinct modes of deliver are statistically limited and more experiments are needed to prove how viable these options of learning are. We believe the jury is still out on the effectiveness each individual mode of delivery. We present an alternative experiment that builds on the strength found in each of the synchronous and asynchronous modes.