We present a Single Variable Calculus course that has been delivered purely online for the past three years at the University of Helsinki and partially online at Florida State University. We discuss its methodological and pedagogical design as a case study.

Current platforms and virtual learning environment integrate a number of web technologies that allow delivering rich learning materials such as video-lectures, slideshows, and interactive applets and exercises. The wide choice of materials and of ways of presenting them must however be narrowed according to the cognitive capabilities of the students and the goals set for learning, so that the focus stays on the subject matter and does not derail to the technologies themselves. In our experience, it is important that the environment and the materials themselves are designed to support collaborative learning, to track the learning process, and to adapt to the student’s individual learning style.