Revising mathematical activities for secondary teachers through the lenses of modern digital tools

Abstract

The content of this paper stems from an earlier inquiry into the use of computers in secondary mathematics teacher education. The advent of the modern day digital tools (such as Maple and Wolfram Alpha) capable of sophisticated symbolic computations calls for the revision of technology uses set forth in the early years of teaching mathematics through problem solving [26]. Nowadays, technology not only facilitates problem solving to the extent of making it just “easy”, but provides learning
opportunities for deeper inquiries into seemingly sealed for non-professional mathematical investigations that require formal reasoning. The activities described in the
article are connected to recent standards for teaching mathematics and recommendations for the preparation of teacher candidates published in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Through the suggested activities one can appreciate the integration of mathematical understanding, conceptual knowledge, procedural skills and technological
competence.