Building European collaboration in technology-enhanced learning in mathematics

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the work that Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence made possible on technology-enhanced learning in mathematics. It presents some findings from two complementary initiatives that were carried out in this field: TELMA European Research Team and the Special Interest Group on Learning and Technology at Work. TELMA initiative, starting from the acknowledgement of the difficulties generated in mathematics education by the diversity and fragmentation of existing theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches, worked towards the collaboration and integration of European research teams involved in the use of digital technologies in mathematics education. Some common concepts and a methodology based on the cross-experimentation of ICT-based tools for school mathematics were elaborated and tested in real classroom settings, with the aim of analysing the intertwined influence played, both implicitly and explicitly, by the different contextual characteristics and theoretical frames assumed as reference by the diverse teams participating in TELMA. The work developed by the Learning and Technology at Work group gave the possibility to enlarge the usual perspective on mathematics learning since it allowed considering not only indications coming from school education, but also needs coming from the world outside the school and, in particular, from the workspace, where novel kinds of mathematical knowledge, techno-mathematical literacies, have become of critical~importance. © 2009 Springer Netherlands.