Opportunities and Challenges in Using Dynamic Software in Mathematics Education

The emergence of modern technology, particularly dynamic software, in the teaching and learning of mathematics has raised new challenges for both teachers and students. On the one hand, national organizations such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) as well as educational authorities recommend effective integration of technology into mathematics classrooms as the central focus of education, so that students can better understand mathematical ideas and critically solve mathematical problems. On the other hand, some researchers assert that over-use of technology and problems like black-boxing of the central concepts within the use of mathematical software leads to a metacognitive shift that results in students’ losing their focus on the mathematical concept to something else. Having considered three popular theories including Information Processing Theory, the Instrumental Theory, and the Semiotic Mediation Theory, and based on the results of a number of relative empirical studies, this paper attempts to illuminate a few functions and limitations of dynamic software, specifically Computer Algebra Systems, Dynamic Geometry Software, and GeoGebra, in the teaching and learning of mathematics.