Would we teach without technology? A professor’s experience of teaching mathematics education incorporating the internet

Abstract

The intent of this study is to provide information that can be useful in implementing rational changes to mathematics teacher education. In this paper, I present an approach to teach a graduate mathematics education course incorporating technology, more specifically, discussion forums, i.e. asynchronized threaded discussions via the internet. In this study, both survey of the teachers’ background and transcripts of online discussions are used. However, the main focus is on the analysis of online discourse. The data analysis is concentrated on three areas: the math phobia issue, the equity issue and teachers" beliefs about the instructional use of technology. Three examples are described of the impact that the use of a discussion forum had on the teaching and learning experiences. Reflection on the experience and the implications for teacher educators are presented.

Keywords:

• technology
• computer-mediated communication
• mathematics education
• teach
• teacher education
• equity