Published in Nunes,T (ed) Special Issue, ‘Giving Meaning to Mathematical Signs: Psychological,
Pedagogical and Cultural Processes‘ Human Development, Vol 52, No 2, April, pp. 129-
specific learning objectives. The second is the importance of tools (tools that express
the mathematics and tools that that connect the learners) in shaping and enhancing the
meanings developed by the participants articulated as situated abstractions in each
case.
The research challenges are considerable, not least because of the rapid
advance of the technology that might render the categories described in this paper
inadequate. For example, we have barely had a chance to consider the implications of
multi-touch screens or mobile handheld devices on learning; yet these too hold the
promise of pedagogic potential and also will shape both what is learned as well as
how it is learned. There are many such advances in the pipeline. But just in case we
are accused of technocentrism, we reiterate that none of these developments will
happen without more design research to tease out the ways the tools shape
mathematics and its learning, and reciprocally, an understanding of how individuals
and communities can shape the evolving technology.
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