Several studies show that using technology as an intervention tool in mathematics influences student outcomes, motivation to learn, and attitude about learning. However, no meta-analysis exists that examines all three of these characteristics combined along with several facets of the interventions. Understanding how motivation and attitude changes and influences student learning when technology is involved is essential in effectively using technology to enhance mathematical achievement. The current study uses a systematic review process to determine the effects of technology use on student achievement, motivation, and attitude. Different aspects of the intervention are examined (type of intervention, type of treatment, duration of the intervention, mathematical content area, and context of the learning environment). Results from 24 articles (4,522 subjects) indicate a significant overall impact of technology on student achievement, motivation, and attitudes; however, results vary based on the different aspect of the intervention examined.

This article reports the findings of a study designed to examine the influence of multimodal writing on the communication of mathematical ideas. Elementary school students (ages 8-13) were required to write mathematics notes using two digital writing technologies, a personal digital notepad and a social mathematics blog, in the context of a formal intervention. Fortytwo students participated, across three schools. The study showed that when students wrote notes that could be assessed for correctness, their answers were predominately right, indicating that mathematical sense-making was taking place. It also showed that the digital notepad and blog were used differently and that the type of technology influences the writing content. Moreover, students' mathematical writing were understandable by their peers and students collaboratively explored solutions. Younger students were more likely to draw pictures to represent their ideas than older students. These findings show that writing can help students acquire mathematical understanding, and suggest that multimodal writing may help them surmount difficulties often associated with learning math. Although this research demonstrated that writing can help teachers gain an awareness of their students' mathematical understanding, it also revealed that writing environments need to be monitored and students require close guidance to bring about systematic improvement.

Mathematical reasoning involves comprehending mathematical information and concepts in a logical way and forming conclusions and generalizations based on this comprehension. Computer-based learning has been incorporated into classrooms across the country, and specific aspects of technology need to be studied to determine how programs are influencing student reasoning and learning. This article explores how one aspect of computer-based learning, electronic support tools (ESTs), influences students' mathematical reasoning over the course of an online supplemental mathematics program, the Math Learning Companion (MLC). Students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 (N = 31) from two private schools participated in MLC, and their reasoning was assessed before and after participating in the program. EST use was measured by using frequency counts for each tool. Results describe students' tool use and reflect an overall change in their reasoning over the course of the intervention, indicating that students use ESTs as needed to individualize the learning program. Students specifically used ESTs as needed to improve their mathematical reasoning, their correctness of response, and their mathematical explanations of their answers over the course of the intervention.

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Interventions are implemented with greater fidelity when their core intent is made explicit. The core intent of this intervention was to increase access to higher order learning opportunities for students with learning disabilities or difficulties in mathematics through use of research and practice from the fields of special education and mathematics education. Four steps undertaken in the development of a Tier II fraction-based mathematics intervention designed to improve the conceptual understanding of students with learning disabilities or difficulties are described in this article: (a) articulation of a logic model, (b) delineation of intervention components, (c) analysis of reliability data related to implementation fidelity, and (d) pilot testing to measure implementation fidelity and student outcomes. Results of the pilot study demonstrated no significant effect for the component of technology; however, significant pre–post differences were found in the performance of all groups on their conceptual understanding of fractions as numbers.