__W__eb sites that allow users to slice up cones or tile planes or bounce rays off the inside of water droplets are not unique, so it was only a matter of time before serious math educators tested the online waters. That moment has arrived: Temple University's Calculus on the Web project takes a motivated student through the equivalent of a complete first-year college calculus course.
COW is a slick, elegant program. The help files are abundant and lucid. In many places AI routines analyze incorrect answers, figure out what you did wrong, and try to restate the idea of the problem more helpfully. Teachers should note that the program has hooks for math courses or labs - it can keep track of lists, correct homework, and figure grades.
The site has inspired collaborative efforts by others. (One professor plans to write Statistics on the Web. Guess what it'll be called.) Perhaps in the future a herd of COWs will pull math out of the nerd ghetto to which it has been confined.
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