Keywords: communication, education, geotechnical, interactive, internet, multimedia, simulation, world wide web.

Modern communication technologies (computer software and hardware, wired and wireless systems, etc) have an array of products and services that can be used to enhance learning and retention. These technologies with the Internet as the core can deliver multimedia courses to reach millions of students at any time and at any place rather than students following fixed schedules in a classroom. The Internet or Web is no stranger to the academic community. This community has used it in its infancy mainly to exchange scientific information. The recent phenomenal growth of the Internet has created demands for products and services at the click of a mouse 24 hours daily. Education and information development and transfer are no exception to the demands. Indeed, education is now touted to be the new wave of the Internet. Some Universities, relatively few, have already introduced web-based courses and some others plan to do so. Some of the courses, mainly text-based courses, which are available, do not make use of the visual richness of the web.

We are surrounded with a host of visual media – TV, computer games, video games, etc. – and obtain much of our information from them. Research has shown that hearing and seeing (lecture and demonstration) lead to 50% knowledge retention compared with 20% for hearing only. The question that arises is "How can we improve visual contents to capture students' interests and improve knowledge retention?" The answer lies in the selective use of modern communication technologies that include multimedia (streaming digital videos, animations, sound, texts and graphics), chat room, web pages, email, conferencing and listservers.

Many engineering courses involve the integration of fundamental principles and laboratory exercises. Programming to deliver the principles is relatively easy using commercial software. However, laboratory exercises are a different matter. Conventional laboratories require real estate and significant capital investment for equipment, maintenance and provision of services. Recent environmental concerns have placed added burdens on budgets for laboratories. Is it possible to develop virtual labs that can replace real labs? The answer is yes. The writer has developed such a lab for a civil engineering course.

Educational institutions, on the whole, are cash strapped and must find alternative ways of developing and delivering education without relinquishing their hold on the content and quality of courses. Web-based courseware must either be developed by educators with a good knowledge in modern communication technologies or by educators with assistance from specialists in modern communication technologies. In this paper, the use of modern information technologies to enhance learning and retention in a civil engineering course, geotechnical engineering, is presented and discussed. Interactive multimedia simulations have been incorporated into selected topics in an undergraduate geotechnical course to improve understanding and knowledge retention. These simulations are integrated into a comprehensive interactive multimedia courseware that also contains interactive problem solving, electronic quizzes, a glossary, notation, a notepad, computer program utilities and virtual laboratories in which students can conduct simulated standard tests and explore other test conditions. Preliminary evaluations from student responses indicate that simulations can significantly enhance the presentation of some topics and improve learning and retention.

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