TECHNICS AND TECHNOLOGY IN MATHEMATICS AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

The use of computer technology for teaching and learning of mathematics has several consequences and does sometimes give rise to both controversies and misunderstandings. We address these problems by both a philosophical and a historical approach, investigating what it actually is that goes on when new technologies enter mathematics as a discipline and mathematics education as a societal practice. Our analysis suggests a focus on continuities in time and place in the sense that it is necessary to understand the history of “tool use” in mathematics and the various ways that scholastic and non-scholastic mathematical practices adopt such tools. Furthermore we point to the strong interrelation between mathematics as a body of knowledge, mathematical activity and the technologies used for mathematical work. Finally we discuss how different theoretical lenses and epistemological outsets give rise to different guidelines and conclusions regarding the use of computer technology in mathematics education