TEACHERS USING COMPUTERS IN MATHEMATICS: A LONGITUDINAL STUDY

The computer has been in mathematics classrooms for over 20 years now, but with widely varying implementation in mathematics teaching and learning. This paper describes a ten-year longitudinal research study that has investigated the changing nature of how secondary school teachers use computers in their mathematics classroom, and their perception of constraints or obstacles to improving, or extending, such use. The results show that while there are now many more computers available in schools, access remains a key obstacle to their increased use as mathematical learning tools. There is also a change in the kinds of software used, away from content-specific programs and towards generic software, especially the spreadsheet Teacher attitude remains a key factor in progress.