Digital Transformation in Engineering Education

Like it or not, digital transformation in engineering education is happening rapidly around the world. According to a discussion paper published by Dr. Jonas Gallenkämper from Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, “Digitized teaching will occupy a growing share of educational processes and thereby enter into a symbiosis with existing educational formats. Digitization of education will in particular take place in those areas in which it can significantly contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning processes and of knowledge transformations.”
Why is digital transformation important to engineering educators and students? It can improve their learning experience in several ways:

• Accessibility: Students can access course materials, lectures, and assignments from anywhere at any time, making education more flexible and accessible.
• Interactivity: Simulations, hybrid labs, and interactive videos help students with hands-on, immersive learning experiences that can enhance their understanding of complex concepts.
• Collaboration: Digital processes facilitate communication between students and educators, promoting peer learning.
• Efficiency: Automated lab management, instrument control, and administrative tasks can streamline processes and save time for both students and educators.

Engineering educators often find themselves balancing their research work with teaching. They cannot concentrate on research because they must also focus on curriculum development, administrative activities, and maintaining engineering resources. Most of all, educators must stay abreast of industry trends and keep their students interested and engaged. They need to build a lasting knowledge foundation for their students through a holistic learning journey.

A Complete Digital Learning Experience

The Keysight SR101EDUA is a digital learning software suite designed for engineering education. It has two key modules:

• The Keysight PW9300EDU Remote Collaborative Learning Module lets you easily integrate with your favorite learning management system.
• The Keysight PW8400EDU Test Sequencing and Control Module provides an integrated web interface to control instruments and characterize your designs.

The software streamlines teaching workflow by providing secure web-based access to university engineering lab resources, measurement data analysis tools, and industry-ready learning resources.
The suite includes lab management, instrument control, and learning resources subsystems, as well as hands-on remote collaborative lab tools. The built-in instrument control interface allows for control of Keysight and non-Keysight test instruments with SCPI or IVI compliance.

Figure 1. Easily control lab test instruments via the instrument control editor

The graphical charting tools enable students to visualize, compare, analyze, and share test results. In addition, the software allows remote access with single-sign-on authentication, maximizing lab resource utilization.

Figure 2. Advanced charting and collaboration tools for in-person and remote analysis

The digital learning suite provides access to thousands of on-demand, industry-ready learning resources and teaching courseware resources to assist educators in syllabus design.

Figure 3. Access to thousands of industry-ready courses at your fingertips

When developing the digital learning suite, we asked college and university educators and lab managers to test its functions and capabilities. Here are some of the testimonials we’ve received:

• “The ability to access the lab 24/7 is beneficial. The deployment through the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) eases the adoption and maximizes our lab utilization,” said Dr. Hong Gunn from the University of Adelaide, Australia.
• “It’s incredible that Keysight’s solution has no instrument restrictions. The instrument’s web UI and test sequencer greatly assist in making my class livelier,” said Dr. Kevin Kornegay from Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland.
• “The solution is impressive, and we can now use all of the equipment we recently purchased. We are excited to incorporate our research workflow into our teaching curriculum,” said Dr. Chong Li of the University of Glasgow, Scotland.
• “I like how the software ties all the instrument controls to MATLAB and Python scripting together, simplifying my research tasks,” said Dr. Colm Durkan from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
• “The software charting tool speeds up the data analysis process. This is very beneficial to the third- and fourth-year students,” said Dr. Wee Fwen Hoon, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia.

Learn More

Digitally transform your engineering lab to streamline your teaching workflow with a fully integrated web-based solution and enhance your teaching workflow with collaborative tools and self-paced industrial learning courseware. Your new digital learning experience starts here.
Learn more about the SR101EDUA digital learning suite here. Try the demo tour, contact someone for a live demo, or get a six-month free software trial.
Check out Keysight’s industry-grade test instruments, which are valuable companions to the SR101EDUA digital learning software. Learn more about the Keysight Smart Bench Essentials general-purpose test instruments: EDU34450A digital multimeter, EDU36311A DC power supply, EDU33212A waveform generator, and InfiniiVision 1000 X Series oscilloscopes.
For your RF and microwave lab bench, find out more about the Keysight FieldFox handheld RF and microwave analyzers.