From acorns to oak trees: Charting innovation within technology in mathematics education

At all phases of education the expectations created by technology are high such that we should understand how can we harness its potential for improving the quantity and quality of learning mathematics. Of course we cannot expect a universal recipe or a formula that would satisfy every context or culture but a sensible starting point might be to focus on the work of researchers who are leading the way in this respect. This is the idea behind the purpose of this chapter. By considering the papers included in Proceedings of the past International Conferences on Technology in Mathematics Teaching (ICTMT), the intention is to elicit how innovation is both seeded and takes root within this community. The chapter will aim to outline trends within the evolution of innovation and seek to indicate those which impact more or less strongly on the key stakeholders in mathematics education leading to a rethinking of curriculum, assessment, pedagogies etc. Given the extensive literature on this topic, it is not feasible to carry out a comprehensive survey of the complete literature base, however it is anticipated that the analysis of the ICTMT papers will be sufficient to present an informative and insightful picture