Usually, the starting phase is the most difficult part of mathematics studies. Finland and other countries have started to produce digital study material for mathematics in order to bridge the gap between maths education in school and at the college or university. Several presentations of existing digital study material and eLearning projects in mathematics were held during the workshop "Ditigal Study Material and International Collaboration in Mathematics" that took place during the VVYOP '07 event.


Among the attendees were representatives of the FVU mathematics project MatTaFi and Professor Hans-Georg Weigand from the University of Würzburg on behalf of VHB. Participants also discussed future collaboration. The discussions led to a plan for the joint future development project in the field.


The tasks for the planned project include:

• Translation of existing material in English for international use.
• Translation of German material into Finnish and vice versa.
• Production of short WBTs about the use of digital material and eLearning techniques in teaching university-level mathematics. These courses will be prepared in English and offered to teachers, teacher students, and university lecturers in both Finland and Germany.
• Development of an "Applied Calculus" course, which recaps the topics of the high school calculus from a new perspective (especially in applied situations) to prepare students for mathematics lessons at university.
• Development of an open access electronic library of learning objects suitable for different kinds of online courses.
• Production of new study materials relevant to mathematics education, in particular web-based interactive and visual materials (including animations).

In addition, a survey of the subject areas in which materials could be used is planned. This survey will have a specific emphasis on mathematics teaching and the necessary changes resulting from the evolution of IT. The survey results will be used for evaluating and further improving the existing material. Moreover, it will be a basis for setting up guidelines for future development.


The project is based on the cooperative agreement between the FVU and VHB on the exchange of their member universities' online courses and online learning materials.