The Future of Education

In recent years, a decrease in mathematical knowledge is observed among first year university students in many countries. Mathematics as a subject has remained quite difficult and unpopular among most students. The time for theoretical and practical classes has been reduced, so it was necessary to modify the way of teaching and learning. New technologies provide teachers with many useful tools that can be used to improve the teaching process. Many universities use the Moodle platform to develop online courses proposed as a supplement to the classroom lessons.

In the article, the experience of three Baltic States universities (Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Latvia University of Agriculture and Estonian University of Life Sciences) is discussed. There are different mathematics course programs which provide different number of credits and also different hours for lectures and practical works. The aim of the courses is an understanding of basic concepts, solving tasks and application of this knowledge in students’ further studies.

Our experience shows that the secondary-tertiary transition in Mathematics is very problematic for many of the students. The Virtual Learning system can be a useful and flexible teaching tool, and also can help learners to find information and to observe their own progress. The study shows that the use of information technology for teaching Mathematics is quite problematic due to multiple reasons, primarily due to the particularity of mathematical symbols and graph plotting and also due to a need for live teacher-student communication while solving any occurring problems; therefore, even though it is a very powerful supplementary tool, the drawbacks of Moodle as the primary platform for teaching mathematics to non-mathematicians outweigh the benefits. Nevertheless, it can be used as an addition to the curriculum for students who want to spend extra time mastering theoretical material and solutions of typical problems.