Using a Web site to teach Mathematics at the university level-effects on students' performance and motivation

Many French universities have recently designed educational Web sites with the aim of modernizing teaching and to improve students' motivation. Do students learn better with such tools? Are they more satisfied and motivated? We conducted an experiment to assess the efficiency of an educational Web site, in terms of performance in solving exercises though information search, and of satisfaction. Contrary to our predictions, but in line with other studies, students who used the Web site had lower scores than those who used a paper version of the materials. The majority of the students indicated that they prefer to print the documents instead of reading online, but the Web site's design is perceived as more pleasant. We discuss the consequences of the results for university teaching.