Technology enhanced learning in mathematics

> Website: http://telma.noe-kaleidoscope.org

Dr. Rosa Maria Bottino
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Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche - Consiglio Nazionale Ricerche - Italy

About Technology Enhanced Learning in Mathematics (TELMA)
Our research consortium comprises six teams focusing on how to improve mathematical learning using Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). While mathematics is traditionally perceived as abstract and formal, we are looking at ways in which ICT can facilitate access to mathematical concepts by means of the manipulation of concrete representations (such as visual, motor, perceptive, etc.). We are developing integrated approaches for the study, design and analysis of innovative learning environments for maths education, focusing not only on the technology itself, but also on the learning situations and contexts in which these technological tools are used.

Achievements to date
Many of our activities thus far have related to the integration of our teams and the definition of common terms and methodologies. To this end, we have conducted several cross-experiments in mathematics education in actual classroom settings, using tools developed by our consortium. That is, each TELMA team experimented with an ICT-based tool developed by a different group in the consortium. To do this, the teams had to draw up and agree upon joint guidelines. This idea of cross-experimentation is a new methodological approach to collaboration, seeking to facilitate common understanding across research teams with diverse practices and cultures and to progress towards integrated views of technology use in education; this level of dialogue and collaboration has been crucial to our research area, helping us to find some common perspectives, as well as clarify some key differences.

In addition to attending several conferences and workshops, we have analysed different theoretical frameworks and ICT-based tools used for teaching maths, and have developed a methodological tool for the analysis of educational ICT-based systems for mathematics education (in particular for algebra and arithmetic education). We are also engaged in a comparative study of Interactive Learning Environments (ILE). Our hopes for this study are to continue to fine-tune the analysis methodology developed and to maintain a list of analysed systems and tools to share with other researchers in the field.

Contributions to the field by the end of December 2007
The aim of our consortium is to foster integration in the field of TELMA, and to support a variety of joint research actions, the outputs of which will be of value to the scientific community at large. To help facilitate this integration, we have developed a methodological tool that systematically explores the theoretical frameworks used in technology-enhanced learning in mathematics, and which also explores the role of representations provided by technological tools and the contexts in which these are used. This tool highlights the similarities, differences and synergies between the pan-European research teams.

The benefits of Kaleidoscope
Kaleidoscope has given us the opportunity and the structure to integrate our research teams at a European level, and to begin to perform joint research activities. Moreover, it has provided access to a wide range of researchers on all levels and from different cultures across Europe. This has enabled us to pair senior researchers with younger researchers as well asPhD students, and to directly involve students and young researchers in all phases of our activities. Last, but not least, Kaleidoscope has offered teams from different disciplines and competencies the possibility to come together, compare approaches and forge new research perspectives. The final important objective is to have a joint effort to establish TEL as a proper and independent research field.

Issues to address in the future
Priorities for the future include the development of shared resources for research, which can contribute to a shared scientific policy and sustainability of the field.

A message for European policy makers
Despite good results in a number of experimental settings and the considerable budget invested by many European Governments, the use of the computer has had limited impact on schooling. One of the main reasons for this is that technology has often been introduced as an additional layer to an existing, unchanged classroom setting. When developing policies regarding ICT in classroom settings, teaching and technology have usually been treated separately, with the teaching often being based around what the technology appears to permit, rather than fully integrated as a basis for technology-based educational design. A better understanding of the conditions under which the educational use of ICT tools might have more influence in the school context, and of the ways in which their use may influence changes in the overall approach to education, and, in particular, in mathematics education, are critical for scientific education at the European level.

The importance of Technology Enhanced Learning in Mathematics (TELMA) to the public
Mathematics is integral to science and technology and yet the uptake by students in the fields of mathematics and engineering is on the decline. Recent data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show that, within Europe, mathematics education is exhibiting serious weaknesses that could have huge implications for Europe’s economic future. The work done by TELMA seeks to overcome this, by forging new and innovative pathways in mathematics education through the use of ICT.