Technology in Primary and Secondary School to Teach and Learn Mathematics in the Last Decades

Abstract

There is no doubt that the introduction of digital technology in primary and secondary school has radically changed the way of teaching and learning. Specifically, considerable changes have occurred in the field of mathematics education. The aim of this chapter is to highlight such an evolution taking into account different and distinct aspects and points of view which are proper to mathematics teaching and learning. After all, the integration of digital tools into the world of education was unavoidable and necessary, and both teachers and students have been developing new knowledge and skills to face an evolving digitalized society and to become critical thinkers and informed citizens. In the last 30 years, teachers and students have experimented with new ways of manipulating, visualising, representing and treating mathematical objects, new approaches to pose, face and solve mathematical problems, new processes for designing and playing mathematical games, new strategies to assess mathematical skills, and nowadays also new forms of distance teaching and learning. On their side, researchers in mathematics education have detected and studied these new skills, approaches, processes, and strategies in order to provide teachers with the necessary tools and support to exploit effectively the functionalities offered by the technology. The focus of this chapter is on the integration of technology into mathematics teaching, the main issues that have been faced in the last 30 years and the challenges that are still to be faced. A survey of the literature helps outlining the existing landscape, and the current issues are highlighted and illustrated through the description and analysis of some examples. Such examples are properly selected from research studies, projects and didactical experiences in which the authors have been personally involved (Aldon & Panero, Can digital technology change the way mathematics skills are assessed? ZDM, 52, 1333–1348, 2020; Arzarello & Soldano, Compendium for early career researchers in mathematics education. ICME-13 Monographs. Springer, 2019; Bini et al., Maths in the time of social media: Conceptualizing the internet phenomenon of mathematical memes. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2020.1807069 , 2020; Bini, Robutti, & Montagnani, When they tell you that i^56=1: Affordances of memes and GeoGebra in mathematics. The International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education, 28(3), 143–151, 2021. https://cloud.3dissue.com/170388/199108/233436/IJTME-Vol28-3-2021/index.html ; Soldano & Sabena, Technology-based inquiry in geometry: Semantic games through the lens of variation. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 100(1), 7–23, 2019).