Novel Aspects of the Use of ICT in Mathematics Education

During spring semester 2006, a synchronous on-line course in basic calculus was offered at the University of Helsinki, and a voluntary remedial synchronous on-line course in geometry was offered at the Technical University of Catalonia. Both courses used the iVocalize conferencing system. Students’ feedback was very positive, and it is clear that synchronous on-line delivery of education will emerge as a real option at the university level. How to keep students focused during an on-line class, and how to discuss complicated mathematical problems are the main challenges. Traditional contact instruction cannot be simply transmitted electronically. Just like recorded theater plays are not movies, the content and the way how to interact with students must change for mathematics education to be successful in a virtual setting. Here we offer our views on how instruction will benefit of technology in the near future, and discuss some technical solutions provided by the WebALT eContent Project [5]. Recorded short lectures, automatically graded exercises and examinations have big potential both in traditional contact instruction and in on-line education.