Abstract:In this literature survey we focus on identifying recent advances in research on digital technology in the field of mathematics education. To conduct the survey we have used Internet search engines with keywords related to mathematics education and digital technology and have reviewed some of the main international journals, including the ones in Portuguese and Spanish. We identify five sub-areas of research, important trends of development, and illustrate them using case studies: mobile technologies, massive open online courses (MOOCs), digital libraries and designing learning objects, collaborative learning using digital technology, and teacher training using blended learning. These exemplary case studies may help the reader to understand how recent developments in this area of research have evolved in the last few years. We conclude the report discussing some of the implications that these digital technologies may have for mathematics education research and practice as well as making some recommendations for future research in this area.

Growing use of the internet in educational contexts has been prominent in recent years. In this survey paper, we describe how the internet is transforming the mathematics classroom and mathematics teacher education. We use as references several reviews of use of the internet in mathematics education settings made in recent years to determine how the field has evolved. We identify three domains in which new approaches are being generated by mathematic educators: principles of design of new settings; social interaction and construction knowledge; and tools and resources. The papers in this issue reflect different perspectives developed in the last decade in these three domains, providing evidence of the advances in theoretical frameworks and support in the generation of new meanings for old constructs such as 'tool', 'resources' or 'learning setting'. We firstly highlight the different ways in which the use of digital technologies generates new ways of thinking about mathematics and the settings in which it is learnt, and how mathematics teacher educators frame the new initiatives of initial training and professional development. In this survey paper, we identify trends for future research regarding theoretical and methodological aspects, and recognise new opportunities requiring further engagement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the agenda of mathematics education. This change will be analyzed by looking at three trends in mathematics education: the use of digital technology, philosophy of mathematics education, and critical mathematics education. Digital technology became a trend in mathematics education in response to the arrival of a different kind of artifact to the mathematics classroom. It was thrust into the spotlight as the pandemic suddenly moved classrooms online around the world. Challenges specific to mathematics education in this context must be addressed. The link between the COVID-19 pandemic and digital technology in education also raises epistemological issues highlighted by philosophy of mathematics education and critical mathematics education. Using the notion that the basic unit of knowledge production throughout history is humans-with-media, I discuss how humans are connected to the virus, how it has laid bare social inequality, and how it will change the agendas of these three trends in mathematics education. I highlight the urgent need to study how mathematics education happens online for children when the home environment and inequalities in access to digital technologies assume such significant roles as classes move on-line. We need to understand the political role of agency of artifacts such as home in collectives of humans-with-media-things, and finally we need to learn how to implement curricula that address social inequalities. This discussion is intertwined with examples.

The parable of the man and the dog (adapted from other old stories) Once upon a time there was a man who studied at a university how to teach dogs to bark. After completing his degree he could not get employment, so he continued with his studies and completed a PhD in his field, and was appointed at his university to train students to teach dogs how to bark. Not many students studied with him. Then a terrible virus, affecting dogs and causing them to lose their ability to bark, hit the world and caused a worldwide pandemic. Not everybody was equally unhappy-after all, barking dogs can be rather noisy. Rumours, that this virus could be man-made, were heard. The virus spread exponentially and soon few dogs remained that could bark. And the world was quite quiet. Suddenly his discipline was very popular and all over the world new experts started writing important articles and books and blogs on how dogs should be taught how to bark. International companies launched big money-making projects and many teachers and scholars boarded the bandwagon. Unfortunately not all attempts were successful-teaching a dog how to bark does not always imply that the dog will learn how to bark. But some were. And the man had a little smile. And more students. And, although somewhat differently, they could live happily ever after.

For the last 10 years, online pre-service teacher distance education has increased significantly in Brazil. As a result, research on this educational modality has also increased, in particular, research investigating the different roles students and teachers play in these courses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of digital technologies in two specific contexts: how teachers, tutors, and students play a role in producing interactive digital didactic material and how digital technologies themselves can play a role in teaching distance learning courses. But for these roles to emerge, we point to the need for participants of online courses to interact collaboratively. To identify these roles, grounded theory, a branch of qualitative research, was used as the two roles were articulated. Data were produced from virtual observations in virtual learning environments and virtual interviews. The results stress that both highlighted roles are related. They transform teacher and student roles and participation in the virtual classroom, and an Bagency of media^emerges in online mathematics education.