Abstract

There are millions of web pages available on the World Wide Web (WWW). Using the word 'math', or 'maths', in one of the many 'search engines' (such as Alta Vista), brings forth details of many thousands of mathematics web pages. All around the world, mathematicians are more than willing to share their knowledge with others. However, this can present more problems than it solves. For example, what is available? Who checks the veracity of material published on the web? Who decides on its worth? Is the material copyright? Is one likely to be swamped by the sheer volume of what is available? Can the web be used to deliver courses in place of the standard chalk-and-talk delivery? Will this lead to a standardisation in content and delivery? It is not the intention to provide a review of available teaching and learning material on the web in this group report. Rather, the emphasis is on the likely impact of such material on teaching, learning and assessment and the issues resulting from such impact. For a more in-depth look at mathematics contents of web sites see the other report on mathematics and the Internet elsewhere within this Proceedings. However, the reader is encouraged to visit sites that describe issues relating to the use of web technology in course delivery such as “w4t”, COSE (Creation of Study Environments) and WOLF (Wolverhampton Online learning Framework). The reader can also see details of MLE’s (Managed Learning Environments) and VLE’s (Virtual learning Environments).