The University of Mannheim was one of the first universities in Europe to engage in a telecollaborative environment, focusing on providing students with online course material. In 1996, lectures were transmitted over the Internet between Mannheim and Heidelberg on a regular basis. In 1998, we founded the project "Virtual University of the Upper Rhine Valley" (VIROR). VIROR expanded our previous techniques and experiences onto a large scale: The tele-cooperation of 4 universities and 25 institutions across various departments.

I am going to give a brief overview of this project, its goals and its challenges and present some of the products as well as a psychological evaluation of how our students integrated the offers into their curriculum. I will finish with a vision how to further enhance interaction even in "mass lectures" by the means of new technologies.