Technology, communication, and collaboration: Re-thinking communities of inquiry, learning and practice

This chapter presents an overview of the role of technology in mathematics education within the framework of social learning theories. A review of past submissions to ICMI sponsored activities over the last 20 suggests that social perspectives on teaching and learning with technology have become increasingly prevalent. A review of recent literature, such as the proceedings of ICMI 17, as well as broader research sources, adds further support to the view that there is growing interest among the mathematics education community in how digital technologies can enhance mathematics teaching and learning through attention to social aspects of coming to know and understand. Four typologies of digital technologies and their role in collaborative practice are identified: technologies designed for both mathematics and collaboration; technologies designed for mathematics; technologies designed for collaboration; and technologies designed for neither mathematics nor collaboration. As new technologies continue to be developed and refined, they offer new ways to construe communication, collaboration, and social interaction and thus change the availability and feasibility of different kinds of communities of practice. This has implications for both research and practice.