Effective use of Web-based communication tools in a team-oriented, project-based, multi-disciplinary course

The Internet has become a powerful tool for information exchange and communication. Modern day engineering graduates are expected to be adept at using the internet. In a new multi-disciplinary course on mechatronics, effort has been made to integrate the use of Web-based communication tools with in-class and out-of-class activities. Goals of this effort were to teach the use of these tools and to implement effective and efficient communication among all parties involved. In this paper, features of the tools used, their effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) and the lessons that were learned are discussed in the context of a multi-disciplinary course.