Content Enrichment - Exploiting the cycle from academia to industry to academia

The quest for balance between theory and practice in education is always a challenge and it is usually resolved according to the personal experience of the course presenter. The purpose of this paper is to report on a way to widen that experience through a series of interactions between a newly emerging academic program on electronic systems and training courses delivered by a consortium of high-tech companies. The concepts covered in both programs are very similar. However, the experience of the participants and the desired outcomes in terms of applicable skills are very different. By sharing content and using the rapid reconfiguration procedures inherent in web-supported delivery, we have been able to exploit the synergy between the academic and industry activities. The experience has clarified educational priorities and improved the learning effectiveness for all participants - including the faculty.