Development and assessment of synchronous and asynchronous distance learning curricula is an ever growing research due to the new emerging virtual universities. Recent reports confirm the fast growth in online education at an even higher rate than anticipated by educational institutions. The suitability of online learning to engineering disciplines however has been questioned. This paper researches online degree granting institutions and attempts to gain an insight in the growth of online education and its correlation with engineering disciplines. An investigation of educational web sites of 126 educational institutions that offer an Electrical and Computer Engineering degree is used to provide information on whether or not this fast growth in online education is a representative of growth of online engineering disciplines. A comparison of different delivery methods for the online environment is presented as well as a review of different systems for offering electrical, electronics, and digital laboratories via distance learning is presented.
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