ZDM Mathematics Education (2009) 41:453–465

DOI 10.1007/s11858-009-0188-2

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Potential scenarios for Internet use in the mathematics classroom

Marcelo C. Borba

Accepted: 14 May 2009 / Published online: 19 June 2009

FIZ Karlsruhe 2009

Abstract Research on the influence of multiple repre- Keywords Humans-with-media
Internet
Modeling

sentations in mathematics education gained new momen- Digital mathematical performance
Intershaping
tum when personal computers and software started to relationship
Instrumentalization
become available in the mid-1980s. It became much easier
for students who were not fond of algebraic representations
to work with concepts such as function using graphs or 1 Introduction
tables. Research on how students use such software showed
that they shaped the tools to their own needs, resulting in It has been almost 30 years since the discussion on multiple
an intershaping relationship in which tools shape the way representations gained the main stage in mathematics edu-
students know at the same time the students shape the tools cation. Many authors (e.g., Kaput, 1989) argued that the
and influence the design of the next generation of tools. availability of multiple representations of a given mathe-
This kind of research led to the theoretical perspective matical object, such as function, was transforming the way
presented in this paper: knowledge is constructed by col- students could learn mathematics. In a more general sense,
lectives of humans-with-media. In this paper, I will discuss authors such as Borba and Villarreal (2005) have stressed,
how media have shaped the notions of problem and to different degrees, how the use of different media changes
knowledge, and a parallel will be developed between the mathematics itself. Kieran and Yerushalmy (2004), in an
way that software has brought new possibilities to mathe- extensive review of the role of technological environments
matics education and the changes that the Internet may in algebra teaching and learning, show how different soft-
bring to mathematics education. This paper is, therefore, a wares have changed the nature of curriculum in the math-
discussion about the future of mathematics education. ematics classroom. They show how the use of spreadsheets,
Potential scenarios for the future of mathematics education, e.g., changes the focus of part of the mathematics curricu-
if the Internet becomes accepted in the classroom, will be lum from the notion of variables to the notion of unknown,
discussed. and how the use of software packages such as Visualmath
can make the teaching of algebra more function oriented.
An earlier and significantly different version of this paper was
Many authors included in their review, as well as another
presented as the Keynote Address at the Fields Symposium on Digital prepared by Ferrara, Pratt and Robutti (2006), illustrate how
Mathematical Performance, June 2006, available at it is now common in some classrooms in countries from
http://www.edu.uwo.ca/dmp, and was also published in the proceed- different parts of the world (e.g., Belgium, Brazil, France,
ings of the conference under the title ‘‘Humans with Media: a per-
formance collective in the classroom?’’ (Borba, 2007).
Italy, Japan, and New Zealand) to use simulation and
visualization in mathematics to establish conjectures and
M. C. Borba (&) verify results. However, the literature cited does not offer
GPIMEM, Graduate Program in Mathematics Education, insights into how widely spread computers are in class-
Department of Mathematics, Universidade Estadual Paulista
rooms that are neither the focus of research nor the imple-
‘‘Júlio de Mesquita Filho’’, Avenida 24A, 1515 Bela Vista,
Rio Claro, SP, Brazil mentation of such computer-based approaches. Computers
e-mail: [email protected] have become important actors in some branches of

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mathematics as well, and centers in Canada and the United such as writing or even orality, influence the way one
Kingdom have been devoted to experimentation in mathe- knows, as well. From such a perspective, the technology
matics. The Centre for Experimental and Constructive that surrounds us plays an active role in the process of
Mathematics (http://www.cecm.sfu.ca), e.g., has been knowing. These ideas led to the notion that knowledge is
advocating an important role for experimentation in math- constructed by collectives of humans-with-media. Knowl-
ematical heuristics for more than 10 years. edge is not only produced by humans, but also by different
As different educational software designs became media, such as orality, writing, or the new modalities of
available in the 1980s, different mathematical activities language that emerge from computer technology:
could be developed in the mathematics education research
We believe that humans-with-media, humans-media
community. The classic examples are related to the
or humans-with-technologies are metaphors that can
teaching and learning of geometry (Laborde, 1998), func-
lead to insights regarding how the production of
tions, and calculus (Confrey & Smith, 1994). The avail-
knowledge itself takes place (…). This metaphor
ability of dynamic geometry software can transform the
synthesizes a view of cognition and of the history of
types of tasks that can be developed in the classroom
technology that makes it possible to analyze the
(Marrades & Gutierrez, 2000; Arzarello et al., 2002;
participation of new information technology ‘actors’
Arzarello & Edwards, 2005; Mariotti, 2002; Ferrara, Pratt &
in these thinking collectives1 (Borba & Villarreal,
Robutti, 2006; Laborde et al., 2006). For instance, prob-
2005, p. 23).
lems can be assigned in a way that encourages students to
try out different constructions and verify whether there are In such a perspective, knowledge is constructed by
invariants after dragging a figure. The coordination of collectives of humans-with-media, in contrast to views that
multiple representations as a way of knowing different hold that the epistemological subject is one single person or
aspects of functions and other calculus topics was also collectives of humans. For instance, some members of our
transformed as different softwares became available. research group, GPIMEM,2 have applied this notion to
Confrey and Smith (1994) argued about the importance of study different kinds of interactions that take place in
the software design for learning. In the case they analyzed, online courses that employ chat and no form of orality, and
they showed how the design of Function Probe (Confrey, have found that this transforms the nature of the mathe-
1991), which allows for a graph of a function to be drag- matics produced in such environments (Borba, Malheiros
ged, offered students new possibilities for coordinating & Zulatto, 2007). We have also shown how the possibili-
representations. Being able to drag a graph and see the ties for doing mathematics change in an online course
change in a table of x–y values of the original function was when the interface changes from a chat to a videoconfer-
a way of bringing the transformation of functions to the ence, for example. Our research suggests that different
forefront. The influence of humans in the design of soft- interfaces change the nature of humans-with-Internet col-
ware shapes the way other humans learn using that lectives in ways that are similar to classical examples of
software. how the presence of software in the classroom may change
More recently, Borba (2004) expanded on these ideas the nature of the teaching of geometry, functions, or cal-
with the conjecture that mathematics also becomes trans- culus. In this article, a different possibility of the theoret-
formed when one moves from a face-to-face context to ical construct humans-with-media will be explored. I will
online distance courses for teachers. For instance, there are look into the future and try to study what could but does not
online environments in which writing in a chat or a forum yet exist (Skovsmose & Borba, 2004), as opposed to
is the only way for participants to communicate among studying what does exist. More specifically, a discussion
themselves. Analysis of an online course offered for will be made about how the mathematics classroom can be
mathematics teachers showed how writing shapes the transformed if the Internet is used intensively in education.
mathematics discussed in this context. A comparison was In a thorough review about technological environments
made to show differences and similarities between solu- and algebra teaching and learning, Kieran and Yerushalmy
tions to a similar problem presented in a face-to-face (2004) assure us that
classroom and an online course. The analysis was carried
out based on the idea that when technology changes, the
1
possibilities for mathematics are also altered. Many years Thinking collective is a term used by Lévy to emphasize that
of research with software and with the Internet have also knowledge is produced by collectives composed of human and non-
human actors.
led to developments in theoretical discussions about 2
Computer Technology, other Media and Mathematics Education
epistemology.
Research Group (Sao Paulo State University, Department of Mathe-
The idea that computers influence knowledge and the matics, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil). http://www.rc.unesp.br/igce/pgem/
way we know led to the notion that other technologies, gpimem.html.

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Internet use in the mathematics classroom 455

even though computers have been around since the transformed substantially as computers became available
late 1940s, it was only in the late 1960s that mathe- for educational purposes. Many mathematics educators
maticians and mathematics educators began to feel have discussed this issue since the mid-1980s and more
that computing could have significant effects on the intensively in the 1990s. Reviews of much of the literature
content and emphases of school level and university on this theme can be found not only in the two reviews
level mathematics (Fey, 1984). Early visionaries soon already presented but also in the special issue of Educa-
saw the ways in which computing technology could tional Studies in Mathematics in honor of Jim Kaput
be harnessed in order to more fully integrate the (Hegedus & Lesh, 2008). Hoyles and Noss (2008), e.g.,
multiples representation of mathematical objects in stress that ‘‘Kaput’s abiding focus was on the hegemonic
mathematics teaching (p. 100). role of algebraic expression as a means to express mathe-
matical structure in pedagogical settings’’ (p. 89). Kaput’s
Fifty years later, it can be said that multiple represen-
view was also shaped by the emergence of computers and,
tations, in particular, and computers, in general, have
at the same time, influenced software designers (Tall,
entered the educational research scene and made inroads
1991). Jere Confrey (1991), for instance, the main devel-
into some ‘‘pockets’’, albeit in an unequal fashion, in dif-
oper of Function Probe, emphasized the role of multiple
ferent parts of the world. While the use of geometry and
representations as a means to show, among other things,
function software is common in many classrooms in the
that algebraic expression was just one among many pos-
world, there are also many schools without computers. A
sible representations (Confrey, 1994). In this kind of
look at the book edited by Atweh et al. (2007) gives us a
environment, a considerable amount of research was
window into the inequity in mathematics education related
developed in the teaching experiment tradition (Cobb &
not only to current access to technology, but also to other
Steffe, 1983; Steffe & Thompson, 2000), in which stu-
factors. It was important, however, that the early vision-
dents’ actions with software could be closely observed and
aries foresaw possible ways to use computers to change
models constructed about the way they were thinking. I
mathematics teaching and learning, because otherwise
was a member of the Function Probe design team and was
computers may never have come to be used in education at
able to observe the aims of the design team when they
all. In this paper, I would like to envision what the math-
created a new item on the toolbar menu (Borba, 1993). I
ematics classroom could look like if the Internet were to in
was able to observe how the design impregnated in a tool
fact enter the mathematics classroom; or more appropri-
shaped the way students think about functions. For
ately, if the Internet were to permeate the classroom via
instance, the fact that this software allowed for direct
wire and wireless connections.
manipulation on the graph made it possible to challenge the
I will begin with a discussion regarding how different
predominance of algebra discussed by Jim Kaput. Students
media have shaped the notions of problem and knowledge,
transformed graphs of parabolas and then studied what kind
followed by a discussion of how technology, thinking, and
of change such a transformation would generate in tables
mathematics education are intertwined, with a particular
and in algebraic representations of the function being
focus on the relationship between the Internet and mathe-
studied. At the same time, students would shape the soft-
matics education. The relationship between modeling (an
ware tool in ways unanticipated by the design team (Borba,
established trend in mathematics education) and use of the
1993). The use of the edge of the screen or the imagination
Internet will be addressed, as well as new possibilities for
of features which were not present in the toolbar menus of
mathematics education that draw on the performance arts.
the software shaped the software in ways that were
Afterward, I will engage in an exercise of looking into the
appropriate for the user and also influenced the design of
future to envision how modeling and digital mathematical
the next version of the software. It was possible to conclude
performance may present alternatives to the way the notion
based on the study that:
of problem is currently addressed in classrooms without the
Internet. A new notion of problem in which students are the Multi-representational approaches and the relation-
proponents may be important in schools where the Internet ships among representations shape students’ views of
is allowed in the classroom and responses to standard, function just as a ‘‘monolithic’’ algebraic view or the
traditional problems are easily found. ‘‘unidirectional view’’ (algebra ? graph) do, though in
different ways. In this sense, the paper and pencil
environment and the algebra ? graph approach that
2 Intershaping relationship: technology and cognition have reigned in the study of transformations influence
the constructions students make of transformations of
The relationship between cognition and technology has functions, just as a multi-representational approach in a
been under discussion for some time, but it was computer environment does. But students are active in

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the construction and reconstruction of representations condition the way humans think. Reasoning could be
and therefore they do not ‘‘swallow’’ the pre-fabricated ‘‘frozen’’ into a book in a different way than it could in a
representation of others. Instead they ‘‘shape’’ the myth. Reasoning could become linear, and demonstrations
purposefully designed representations in Function in mathematics could become more detailed, not only with
Probe in accordance with their experience. the availability of writing but also with its popularization
The cycle between representations and students’ (Lévy, 1998). The availability of cheap paper and printing
constructions could be endless in this ‘‘inter-shaping’’ devices in the last 300 years made books more affordable
relationship. This cycle might take different directions for a larger number of people.
as a student finds new relationships that allow him/her Computers brought a qualitatively different kind of
to ‘‘see’’ something s/he could not see before, when a memory extension that not only made it possible to store a
new representation is created or new relationships larger amount of information in less space, but also made
among and within representations are created, or when new forms of discourse easily accessible. Multimodality
a new medium is introduced into the process. Since (Kress, 2003) manifested in hypertext changed the nature
representations are always associated with a kind of of language, as it combined figures, video, and animations
medium, it can be said that media are also part of the with regular text. More recently, with the availability and
‘‘inter-shaping’’ relationship (Borba, 1993, p. 8). popularization of the Internet, computers have acquired
another feature that has changed the nature of memory
Intershaping relationship (Borba & Confrey, 1996) was extension: interactivity. More than any other medium
the expression created to characterize the shaping of stu- before it, the Internet has combined new forms of dis-
dents’ cognition by a software tool and the way the stu- course, even greater storage capacity, and communication
dents appropriated the tool for their own purposes. This capability. Computers have become media! One may argue
relationship between tools and ways of knowing has that multimodality was not born with the Internet. For
recently been described using expressions such as instru- example, the way gestures are combined with language in
mentation and instrumentalization (Guin, Ruthven & our everyday communication is a pre-Internet example of
Trouche, 2005), and has also had consequences for peda- multimodal discourse. Another example, as discussed in
gogy. The availability of software, and epistemological this paper, is the way function and geometry software has
perspectives, such as the one described above, have changed the nature of investigation in the classroom. It has
resulted in changes in curriculum, as documented by increased the role of visualization considerably, creating a
authors such as Moreno-Armella, Hegedus, and Kaput multimodal communication in the mathematics classroom
(2008) as they looked back at changes in curriculum that that combines graphs, algebra, tables and manipulation of
were related to the availability of software. figures in a qualitatively different way compared to the way
The notion of intershaping relationship helped make the graphs and tables were used when the blackboard was the
mutual influence of software and cognition visible, but it only medium (Borba & Villarreal, 2005). The Internet as it
also helped to shed light on the role of other tools, such as is understood today has again transformed this medium
paper-and-pencil. Borba (1993) related his findings to oral named computer. Multimodal discourse can now easily
mathematics found in slums in Brazil and normal algebraic incorporate pictures, movies, and music in a way that was
developments to paper-and-pencil. Since 1993, these ideas not possible before. This new phenomenon, which is ana-
have been developed drawing on the work of Pierre Lévy lyzed by authors such as Hughes (2007), among others,
(1993) and Oleg Tikhomirov (1981). offers new possibilities for mathematics education. Com-
In Lévy’s discussion of the history of media, he iden- bining these new possibilities with what is currently
tifies three main eras. From this perspective, orality, writ- available in mathematics education is a necessity today in
ing, and informatics are qualitatively different ways of the same way that it was for some of the ‘‘visionaries’’ who
extending our memory, and once they are put into practice, began transforming the mathematics classroom with
they also help to shape humans. For instance, orality shapes activities for software such as Logo and dynamic geometry
the knowledge that is impregnated in the myths of societies software (see Kieran & Yerushalmy, 2005; Laborde et al.,
who have not developed writing. Borba and Villarreal 2006, for a review on this issue).
(2005) have proposed that research in ethnomathematics Outside the field of mathematics education, a Vygots-
would acquire new insights, and the mathematics produced kian psychologist was also envisioning the future of the
by certain cultural groups could gain new status, if their relationship between cognition and computers. In a paper
mathematics were seen as shaped by a media such as ahead of its time, written in 1972, Oleg Tikhomirov (1981)
orality rather than characterized as lacking writing. described the qualitative difference of informatics com-
Lévy (1993) analyzed writing as a way of extending pared to regular language. Although personal computers,
memory. Writing and the linearity that it allows helped to fast computer chips, and the Internet were yet to be

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invented, he proposed that computers could influence Knowledge is historically bounded because both humans
cognition differently than regular language. As a former and media, co-actors in its production, are historically
student of Vygotsky, he established a parallel with his work situated.
and proposed that informatics would reorganize human This view of how knowledge is produced can inform
thinking, not substitute or juxtapose it. changes in the classroom, especially if it is taken into
He strongly argued that the view that computers can account that students arrive at school at different levels,
substitute human thinking, or that computers and humans with no ‘‘accent’’ as far as use of computers and the
have separate and distinct (juxtaposed) roles in cognition, Internet is concerned. As the reader will see, the ‘‘accent’’
could not hold unless cognition is seen as divided into metaphor will be discussed further later in this paper.
small fragmentary pieces that are value-free. If cognition Many social psychologists have discussed how the idea
is considered to be information-processing, one can of an individual knower is problematic as it does not
imagine computers substituting humans in carrying out consider the role of other people and overemphasizes the
this process of dividing thinking into small pieces and role of the individual. These psychologists, strongly influ-
manipulating them. However, if cognition is seen as enced by Vygotsky, see the role of other artifacts as
involving complex heuristic processes, as well as other mediating tools. As discussed in detail in Borba and
variables such as values that drive the process, it is not Villarreal (2005), the Piaget 9 Vygotsky debate in the United
possible to conclude that computers substitute humans. States in the early 1990s had a great influence on the notion
The possibility that computerized devices do not interfere of intershaping relationship, proposing that tools were
in thinking is also ruled out. As a follower of Vygotsky, shaped by users while at the same time helping to shape the
Tikhomirov was already aware of the way language thinking of the users. Further contact with authors such as
interacts with thinking, and he proposed that computers Tikhomirov and Lévy helped us to see that considering
interact with thinking. tools as only mediators was a way of maintaining the
He proposed that computers, with their qualitatively human as the basic unit of knowledge production. Some of
different way of extending human memory, reorganize us are building an alternative perspective of knowledge in
thinking in a way that language cannot. Tikhomirov’s which the very notion of what human means is impreg-
(1981) predictions regarding the way computers would nated by technology. Technology does not exist without
influence thinking were made at the time when computers humans, and the notion of human commonly held, at least
were room size. With the arrival on the scene, in the 1980s, in modern history, does not exist without technology as
of personal computers and interfaces such as keyboards, well.
mouse, and screens, and their relative ubiquity in our lives The notion of humans-with-media expresses this mutual
today, it can be argued even more strongly that computers dependency and calls attention to the following: that the
reorganize thinking. way knowledge is produced, and whether different results
Our research has been informed by such a view and has are considered true or not at a given moment, depend on
contributed to its further development. The interactions social agreements. For mathematicians such as Bicudo
made possible by the interfaces mentioned above, and (2002), a demonstration in mathematics is not the result
those made possible by the Internet, have changed the of pure logic but rather must be agreed upon by many
nature of communication and the very notion of what being mathematicians in order to be considered a valid result in
human means. It is very hard to think about humans mathematics. In Borba and Villarreal (2005), media, such
without electricity at the turn of the last century, and it as orality, paper-and-pencil, and computers, are also seen
would be very hard to think about humans today without as co-actors in different ways of validating different results
computer technology impregnating those thoughts. Hunt- in different communities. In particular, we show how
ing is no longer an essential part of being human, but paper-and-pencil are co-actors in demonstrations. In the
searching for information is becoming more and more a mathematics classroom, many of us in our research group
part of the collective notion of human that is evolving at GPIMEM have shown how different pieces of technology
the beginning of the twenty-first century. have become co-actors in the production of knowledge, in
We have been taking these ideas into the epistemolog- the way communication happens, and so on. In this paper, I
ical debate, proposing that knowledge is produced by will use the construct of humans-with-media to show how
collectives of humans-with-media (Borba, 1999; Borba and the Internet may ‘‘deconstruct’’ the structure of curriculum
Villarreal, 2005). This notion stresses the fact that every if the Internet becomes part of the mathematics classroom.
technology of intelligence (Lévy, 1993) interacts with If the kinds of problems that traditionally compose the
human thinking, and that knowledge has been shaped mathematics curriculum become obsolete, what might be
historically by humans and by the media being used. next? What kinds of activities might replace them?

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3 Problem and media What kind of problems will be posed to collectives of

humans-with-Internet?
The above discussion about the notion of humans-with- It is very likely they will be quite different from those
media alters the way computers impact the production of posed to collectives that include only paper-and-pencil as
knowledge and the way people collaborate (Borba & media, not only because the answer can be easily found on
Villarreal, 2005; Borba & Zulatto, 2006). I believe that the Internet, but because the Internet is also shaping the way
the very notion of problem is transformed by media. humans organize and see things. Searching for something
Saviani (1985) and Borba (1994) stated some time ago on the Internet can be more motivating for kids who belong
that a problem has both an objective and a subjective part. to the ‘‘Internet generation’’. As I have discussed elsewhere
The objective part is an obstacle that emerges within the (Borba, 2004), more and more kids do not see the Internet as
life experience. However, an obstacle can pass unnoticed something new; they were born with it, and they have no
by one person and provoke considerable interest in ‘accent’ when speaking and listening to Internet language.
another, and this is what I refer to as the subjective part. I There is a new language being generated on the Internet,
believe it is time to expand this discussion to emphasize and most teachers learned this language when they were no
that a problem also depends on the medium that is longer children, and probably speak it with a strong accent,
available in a given collective of humans-with-media. it not being their ‘‘mother tongue’’. ‘‘Soon generations will
Studying function using only paper-and-pencil is one be arriving in the schools, and next the universities, who
thing, and with a graphing calculator another. Many who have no accent, who, born, raised, and impregnated with
studied function without access to computers could con- ‘Internet-ized’, hyper-media texts, will expect educators to
sider an obstacle, in the sense proposed above, to be speak their language’’ (Borba, 2004, p. 314). So I believe
‘‘graph y = x2 - 5x ? 6’’. problems like those given in traditional paper-and-pencil
Of course, this is hardly a problem for collectives that environments will have to be, at a minimum, transformed
include graphing software, since there is no obstacle to be into questions such as ‘‘Why does the graph of y = x2 -
overcome. As is well known, a ‘typical problem’ for col- 5x ? 6 look like this?’’
lectives of humans-with-graphing-calculators is to explore The literature already analyzed in this paper (e.g., Ki-
relationships of graphs, tables and algebra as ‘‘a’’ varies in eran and Yerushalmy, 2004; Laborde et al., 2006) regard-
the equation y = ax2 ? bx ? c, keeping ‘‘b’’ and ‘‘c’’ ing the use of software in the classroom has provided
constant. I do not see problems as being inherently good or considerable evidence regarding how the nature of a given
bad, but rather as conditioned by different media available. task may change once these software become part of a
What is perceived as an obstacle, and what provokes collective of humans-with-media. It is time for all of us to
interest, also depends on the media available. Subjectivity start thinking about problems that would be appropriate for
and objectivity are merged even closer by the notion of classrooms characterized by intensive presence of the
humans-with-media and the way the notion of problem can Internet. Although not all mathematics classrooms cur-
be transformed by it. In this example, there is another rently have access to computers, for different reasons, it is
aspect to be considered: problems like the one above, with reasonable to admit that hardly any classroom would have
open possibilities of answers, are more likely to challenge access if the early visionaries had not started thinking about
the students if media, like graphing software, are available. how to use computer technology in the classroom a long
In the schools, however, even though calculators or time ago.
software are allowed in the classroom, their use is not One way of thinking about possible mathematical
likely to be permitted during examinations. In particular, problems in a classroom where students are allowed to use
access to the Internet may not be allowed based on argu- the Internet is to transform the elaboration of a problem
ments such as: students can find the answers to the prob- into a problem itself. Proposals of this type have been
lems given; students may get distracted; or it will favor developed in Brazil and elsewhere under the titles of pro-
students who know how to navigate better on the Internet. ject work or modeling. In such pedagogical approaches,
The above arguments are just possibilities, based on similar students are invited to choose a theme to study, to generate
arguments that were presented in the past when calculators a question to be investigated, and elaborate an answer.
and software were first introduced as actors in the mathe- Students are, in this case, exploring part of the same pro-
matics classroom. However, they are also based to some cess experienced by researchers. The Internet, in this case,
degree on current practices: some of the few universities is well-suited to such approaches, and many researchers in
that do accept use of the Internet in class do not accept Brazil, such as Diniz (2007), Borba and Malheiros (2007),
them in exams. But in an attempt to look into the future, the and Borba and Villarreal (2005) have documented and
question can be raised: What will become of the notion of classified ways in which students used the Internet to
problem if the Internet is fully allowed in the classroom? develop their projects. The Internet allows students to

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investigate themes that are not yet available in books. For more active in the learning process. In this scenario, stu-
example, students elaborated a project about mad cow dents would be encouraged to produce mathematics as they
disease when it first arose in England, and some used the do art; they would perform on the Internet, expressing their
Internet to compare findings from their mathematical understanding of mathematics in a digital mathematical
modeling activities with those developed by professional performance.
researchers. Students who work during the day and attend Another source of inspiration for the notion of digital
classes in the evening have used the Internet as a means of mathematics performance is Kress (2003), who has
communication, as they have very little free time to meet emphasized that radical changes are taking place with the
outside the classroom. In our research group, we have also increasing ubiquity of multimodal communication in the
discussed what kinds of mathematics emerge from these virtual world, which joins writing, pictures and animated
projects, which are often interdisciplinary. A pedagogical videos. In such a perspective, multimodal discourse can be
approach that emphasizes students’ choice of the theme to used to develop mathematical ideas that can be posted on
be studied and breaks from traditional didactical contracts the Internet. The reader can view many samples of the
in the classroom may be suitable for a classroom that types of projects that students and/or teachers can produce
embraces the Internet. at http://www.edu.uwo.ca/dmp. I have borrowed the ideas
In his research, GPIMEM member Diniz (2007) details of Boal and Kress to build the argument that a new kind of
the way a group of students that has chosen termites as problem—which exploits the resources offered by the
their theme turns first to books and then to the Internet as Internet—can transform the mathematics classroom. With
their main source of data. They also use the Internet to function and geometry software, students were not yet able
contact professors and display their results. In a study to associate school mathematics with other parts of their
conducted by Malheiros (2004), another aspect of the use lives, but this would now be possible if the Internet were
of the Internet in modeling was identified: students used it allowed in the classroom. Just as software did not imply an
to verify whether or not the results of a ‘‘short-quick’’ end to paper-and-pencil; paper-and-pencil and geometry
biological experiment they performed were in agreement and function software can act together with the Internet in
with more thorough scientific experiments. Discrepancies the mathematics classroom.
were found, and they discussed possible explanations in In a more artistic fashion, the parallel lines poem,
their project reports. http://publish.edu.uwo.ca/george.gadanidis/parallel/, pro-
Both studies mentioned above were conducted in classes poses ideas that challenge the predominance of Euclidean
where the 30% of the final grade was based on assessment geometry in our way of seeing parallel lines. Digital
of the modeling project. Thus, although the Internet was mathematical performances have been used as an educa-
used mainly outside the classroom, it gained partial tional tool in contexts ranging from elementary school to
admittance into the classroom. Another example of an teacher education. Also, Gadanidis and Borba (2008)
approach being used that illustrates how the Internet is emphasized several dimensions involved in the investiga-
making inroads into the classroom, and its potential for tion and creation of digital performances. The multimodal
mainstream classroom use in the future, is digital mathe- design of those virtual objects involving mathematics and
matical performance (Gadanidis, 2006; Gadanidis & arts highlights the role of the Internet in mathematical
Borba, 2008). The educational activity involving use of the thinking.
Internet allows young people to combine exploration of the Some examples of digital mathematical performances
arts and mathematics, and also engages them in the role of are shown in Fig. 1.
performers. This animation of mathematics is deeply influenced by
Authors such as Boal (1979), an important Brazilian the plasticity of digital technology provided by the Internet.
playwright, introduced alternative forms of theater and But another important role of the internet is that, like in
performing arts that emphasize the end of the separation Boal’s theater, the difference between actors and spectators
between actors and audience. In this conception of theater, may become blurred. Students and teachers who sing about
these roles, which are traditionally well-defined, become numbers, or who create flash animations and publish them
blurred. Actors emerge from the audience; audience and in Internet environments, are also becoming actors. In
actors share the same space. Actors perform as traditionally Fig. 1 (left), e.g., animations are performed on the Internet
expected, but spectators can also influence the events of the ‘‘to show’’ how the series resulting from the addition of
play, and even perform. We have drawn on Boal’s work for even numbers is equal to n2. In Fig. 1 (right), musicians
inspiration to think about digital mathematics performance. and mathematics educators sing mathematics songs to
In this way, the rapid communication made possible by the fourth grade students, with poetry written by George
Internet, and the possibility of everyone ‘‘publishing’’ their Gadanidis, which is then published on websites. Students’
work, can be used as means to invite students to become poetry is also turned into songs and published in websites.

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460 M. C. Borba

Fig. 1 Examples of digital

mathematical performances
available on the Internet at
http://www.edu.uwo.ca/dmp.
(Left) L-Patterns: sequence and
series of numbers. (Right) I am
too: quadrilaterals. Digital per-
formances created by George
Gadanidis

Theater and cinema have conditioned different kinds of can different media contribute to different kinds of per-
spectators, and now the Internet may be creating what Boal formance in the ‘‘classroom arena’’?
had dreamed of: an active ‘‘spectactor’’. Theater allows Modeling and digital mathematical performance can,
two-way interaction in a way that cinema does not. In the therefore, represent alternatives for ‘‘problems’’ for stu-
first case, actors can tease the audience or even invite them dents to deal with if the Internet becomes ubiquitous in
into short parts of the play. In theater, each person has a our schools. Moreover, as mentioned before, I propose a
standpoint, seeing the stage from a different perspective. In change in curriculum and substantial changes in the
cinema, it is hard to think about teasing in the same way didactical contract, as students will not likely to be waiting
possible in theater, and although the seats in the theater are for the teacher to initiate the teaching activity, and they
different, everyone who is at the movie theater sees the big will be designing projects or developing activities that
screen in the same way. This does not mean that cinema is resemble research. This is one reason why it is not possible
worse than theater or vice versa, but that the way different to predict whether the Internet will or will not be accepted
structures of the means of communication, the medium, in the classroom. Once more, however, it should be
opens and closes possibilities. remembered that it is important to create alternatives for its
The ideas of Boal and Kress about blurring the line use in the classroom, looking ahead to the future.
between audience and actors and about multimodal com- But again, the different roles that students and teachers
munication, respectively, are consistent with the notion of play, and the very notion of multimodal discourse, despite
humans-with-media. Different collectives generate differ- being more relevant to environments in which the Internet
ent kinds of knowledge and transform the very notion of is a major player, are not limited to such environments.
problem. A problem where the main medium used is paper- Reflecting on the way the Internet may transform tradi-
and-pencil is likely to result in one solution or a demon- tional classrooms helped me to think about how other types
stration. A problem approached using geometry software is of interfaces play different roles in other types of class-
likely to emphasize conjecturing and trial-and-error before rooms. For instance, geometry software also transformed
arriving at a demonstration. Since answers and demon- the problems posed in the classroom. As with function
strations for many problems are now easily found on the software, they invite students to experiment, value the
Internet, it is unlikely that finding answers will be the focus activity of trial-and-error, and at the same time, according
of problems posed to collectives of humans-with-Internet. to some (Laborde, 1998), allow demonstrations to be
Thus, I believe that digital mathematical performance, enriched by analysis of particular cases. In the references
or digital performance, may be an alternative for schools related to dynamic geometry already analyzed in this
that are open to using the Internet for teaching and learning paper, there is considerable evidence showing how these
(Gadanidis, 2006). It is possible to imagine a scenario in tasks are being designed and transformed. As already
which students will gather to create a performance and mentioned, the use of such tasks varies considerably in
rather than to solve problems whose answers are easily different countries, and in different classrooms in the same
found on the Internet. Maybe generating performance, in country.
the sense of performance arts, will be the goal of a school, The extensive reviews analyzed in this paper support the
in contrast to the views of some schools that are only idea that collectives of humans-with-geometry-software
concerned with performance in the radically different sense provide students with the experience of experimentation
of measuring students’ and teachers’ achievement through without overriding traditional roles of paper-and-pencil,
some quantitative criteria. If traditional classrooms are such as their role in demonstration (Borba & Villarreal,
seen as having a stage occupied by the teacher who is 2005). There are classrooms in which both media co-exist,
delivering a monolog, with students as the spectators, how in what can be seen as one more case of Lévy’s (1993) idea

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Internet use in the mathematics classroom 461

that one medium generally does not replace the one it change roles and are transformed into spectactors. It is
competes with, but rather incorporates it and, I would add, clear that changing the didactical contract or giving more
transforms it. voice to students is neither a casual implication of the use
The use of software in the classroom changes the status of technology in general, nor of the use of the Internet in
of visualization in the classroom, as well. The ‘‘flashier’’, particular. What is being argued in this ‘‘research of the
more dynamic and interactive process of drawing graphs of future’’ is that if students engage in project work, and if
functions and different geometric figures is becoming more there are no clear correct answers, the student–teacher
common in the classroom. The discourse that makes this relationship is likely to change.
process possible is, of course, multimodal. The dynamic of Skovsmose and Borba (2004) proposed that research
figures was connecting the world of school, traditionally should not be concerned only with what is happening in the
associated with writing, to the experience most were classroom, but also with what is not happening. Focusing
already having with television, and that many others are research only on current practices in the classrooms can
starting to have with the Internet, as well. Kerckhove generate a conservative agenda in which researchers look
(1995), based on substantial empirical research, described only at things that are there. However, imagination—an
how television influences the way one thinks and how it imagined situation—can also be researched. Imagining
sometimes reaches our intelligence even before it is pos- mixed-race classrooms in South Africa should have been
sible to reflect on some of the images being shown. on the (mathematics) education agenda before the end of
Dynamic geometry and function software are not televi- apartheid. Of course, it was not easy to do so before the end
sion, but they are also seen in a screen, and the images are of the racist regime, so it may have been necessary to
perceived very strongly, as most advocates of its use have create arranged situations. An arranged situation is there-
shown, as well as those who criticize the misconceptions fore an intermediate situation between the current situation
generated by the images (see Ferrara, Pratt & Robutti, and the imagined situation.
2006). Experimentation and visualization have invited Arranged situations may be necessary to investigate
body language, in particular gestures, to play an important modeling and technology in classrooms in universities and
role in mathematics education (Arzarello & Robutti, 2004; societies where the problem is traditionally given by the
Borba & Scheffer, 2004). Like our arguments regarding the teachers, and where availability of technology is increasing
Internet, it can be said that this software has already ini- slowly. Modeling challenges the current situation and
tiated the creation of a multimodal discourse. presents alternatives for a classroom in which students
Internet, software, paper-and-pencil, and orality are have a voice in choosing what will be studied. Students are
media that not only express ideas, but also shape ideas and using the Internet already outside the classroom for gath-
language. It is in this way that I see them as actors in the ering material for their projects (see Diniz, 2007, for
collective of humans-with-media. Graphing and geometry instance), but even in studies such as these, the Internet is
software brought the first generation of multimodal dis- not still fully admitted into the classroom and is not actu-
course into mathematics, and I believe that approaches like ally even available, for the most part. Digital mathematical
modeling have been paving the way, prior to the arrival of performance is a product of Gadanidis’ (2006) imagination,
the Internet, for the belief that students should participate and arranged situations are being created to conduct
in the design and development of projects, rather than empirical research related to this notion.
limiting their activities only to solving problems. Fig. 2 can The goal of this paper was to imagine possible scenarios
show static views of students working with a graphing for a classroom that is saturated with the Internet and where
calculator, discussing graphs on the blackboard, pointing technology is allowed in all instances of education. In these
and performing other kinds of gestures, using PowerPoint scenarios, the Internet would not be forbidden from day 1
to present part of their project, the teacher pointing, of class to the final exam, in the same way that a traditional
explaining and debating with students. wristwatch is not. If this comes to pass, it is unlikely that
Figure 2 came from a mathematics class for first year problems from a regular textbook will be at center stage, as
Biology majors in which students experience the use of argued earlier, due to students’ lack of ‘‘Internet accent’’ or
graphing calculator and modeling, together with more because answers will be easily found on the Internet. The
traditional use of the blackboard and solution of exercises notion of ‘‘problem’’ may be transformed in a similar
in the classroom. Considering these from a performance fashion as it was when geometry and function software
perspective, in the way that Gadanidis and Borba (2008) become incorporated into educational environments.
are attempting to develop, it can be seen that, in the face- But maybe there will be no problems, and the task will
to-face classroom, the possibility exists for actor (teacher) be to find problems and issues in this information-saturated
and audience (students) to play out some versions of Boal’s environment, which is a way that a classroom with Internet
Theater of the Oppressed, in which actors and spectators can be described. This scenario can be similar to some of

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462 M. C. Borba

Fig. 2 Different
‘‘performance’’ in the
mathematics classroom

the modeling examples presented in this paper. Students virtual space, and not necessarily according to geographical
may conduct searches on themes and develop their search or university divisions.
in the virtual world, but with the major difference that the Another scenario for an Internet-saturated classroom is
entire class curriculum will be permeated by the Internet. one in which digital mathematical performance is widely
Looking for problems, and discussing solutions for them used. The convergence of mathematics, performance arts
and generating new problems may be part of this educa- and digital technology with the support of the Internet is
tional scenario. Modeling projects will be published on the one possibility for a classroom in which the routine task-
Internet, and communities of interest will be formed in solution-assessment may not occupy central stage. Students

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Internet use in the mathematics classroom 463

thinking about mathematics as art and developing mathe- grading are also impregnated by technology. But this does
matical poems may be at the core of learning mathematics not mean that the classrooms are fully permeated by them.
in this kind of classroom. Digital mathematical perfor- Schools, understood in this paper in a broad sense that
mance is usually displayed in a combination of video, encompasses all levels from kindergarten to graduate
animations, algebraic expressions and mathematical school, seem to be resistant to technology. Memorization is
graphs. This combination can be seen as a new language still largely required in classrooms, and even more in tests.
for mathematics education that can become more powerful National tests and entry exams also depend largely on
as the power of Internet connections increases. Digital memory, structured by orality, and paper-and-pencil as the
mathematics performance developed by students may be an main media. In mathematics education, simulation is still a
alternative to the usual model of having students looking second-class citizen. Many of us who use technology in
for answers to problems that are already known. basic education or introductory courses in college do not
A synergy exists between digital mathematical perfor- seem to know how to incorporate technology into the
mance and modeling. So it is possible that a third scenario teaching of topology and analysis; and, of course, dem-
could be the use of both approaches together if the Internet onstrations do not seem to have been transformed by more
is allowed to play an important role in the mathematics than 20 years of research on the use of technology in
classroom. The Internet actually increases the possibilities classrooms. There is no evidence that all the research in
of modeling, as it allows for the broad range of themes that mathematics education has contributed to widespread use
students may express interest in, as discussed in Borba and of software in the mathematics classroom.
Villarreal (2005) and Malheiros (2004). The Internet and So it is not impossible to bar the Internet from the
user-friendly browsers are inherent parts of digital mathe- classroom, or to delay its admittance. Wristwatches seem
matical performance. I believe that as access to the Internet to be the only technology containing microchips that are
increases, and user-friendly tools become more available, used without restriction in the classroom. No one thinks
possibilities for collaboration and constant change in pieces that students who look at watches to check the time are
of digital mathematical performance may become even cheating. But looking at a result or some information on the
more real. Modeling and digital mathematical performance Internet would be considered cheating. Universities that are
are alternatives for face-to-face classrooms, but also for on the cutting edge of technology use, such as UOIT3 in
‘‘online classrooms’’. Canada, still have problems in admitting technology into
It is very likely that these two scenarios for Internet- the testing process. Smartboards are ubiquitous, and stu-
saturated classrooms will be combined with educational dents receive a new laptop at the beginning of every school
practices being used today, but it was important to consider year, but laptops are barred from the exams. In the class I
them independently and apart from other ways of devel- teach at UNESP,4 technology is fully used in class, and is
oping curriculum as a means of trying to look into the used by the students to present their projects, but it is
future. barred from the exams, which compose approximately 70%
of the final grade. It is not easy to implement something
that would appear to encourage cheating for students and
4 Looking into the future of education for the community in general. As a teacher, I still do not
feel fully confident preparing test items using software, and
Banks have accepted computer technology in a way that I have only begun to think about how to use the Internet in
has transformed banking. Industry, in general, has accepted tests.
technology. In particular, the tourist industry has incorpo- In this paper, I intended to show some possibilities for
rated the Internet and computer technology as a means of using the Internet in the current mathematics classroom and
attracting more people to beach resorts or hotels near the to imagine how it can be used in the future if the Internet
sites of scientific conferences. Conference organizing may becomes fully accepted in the classroom. If collectives that
be considered by some as part of the tourist industry and by include the Internet are allowed in schools, a need to design
others as part of academic activities. It no longer seems tasks for collectives of humans-with-Internet will emerge.
reasonable to organize a conference without a webpage to Two scenarios were presented, one that includes projects
advertise, report updates, and provide some means of like those developed in the modeling tradition, and those
paying conferences fees. If organization of educational that adapt innovative ideas proposed by the digital math-
conferences is considered as being part of education, it is ematical performance projects. Modeling (see for instance,
possible to conclude that technology has been accepted, to Barbosa, Caldeira & Araújo, 2007; Borba & Villarreal,
a certain extent, in the field of education. If one focuses
3
more closely on the administration of education, it is University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
4
possible to find that student registration, diplomas, and Sao Paulo State University.

123
464 M. C. Borba

2005) is a consolidated trend in mathematics education and o ‘‘núcleo-escola’’ da favela da vila nogueira-São Quirino.
has been transformed by the use of technology; at the same 1987. Dissertação (Mestrado em Educação Matemática). Rio
Claro: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas, Universidade
time, it illustrates one of the possibilities for introducing Estadual. Publicado pela Associação de Professores de Matemá-
the Internet into education. Digital mathematical perfor- tica, Portugal, 266 f.
mance (Gadanidis & Borba, 2008) is a brand new attempt Borba, M. C. (1999). Tecnologias Informáticas na Educação
to bring arts together with education, in which the Internet Matemática e reorganização do pensamento. In M. A. V. Bicudo
& M. C. Borba (Eds.), Pesquisa em Educação Matemática:
plays an active role—a role that can often be taken for Concepções e Perspectivas. São Paulo: Editora UNESP.
granted, or be considered natural, as occurred when elec- Borba, M. C. (2004). Dimensões da Educação Matemática a Distância.
tricity and blackboards were introduced in the nineteenth In M. A. V. Bicudo & M. Borba (Org.), Educação Matemática:
and twentieth centuries in most schools in Europe and other pesquisa em movimento. São Paulo: Cortez, pp. 296–317.
Borba, M. C. (2007). Humans with Media: a performance collective
‘‘developed’’ parts of the world. in the classroom? Keynote address at the fields symposium on
The distance between students’ everyday experiences digital mathematical performance, June 2006.
and their experiences in school may diminish if the Internet Borba, M. C., & Confrey, J. (1996). A student’s construction of
becomes accepted in the schools. It is very possible that, if transformations of functions in a multiple representational
environment. Educational Studies in Mathematics, Dordrecht,
we bring the Internet into the classroom, we will bring 31, 319–337. doi:10.1007/BF00376325.
more technology into schools. We may start to think that Borba, M. C., & Malheiros, A. P. S. (2007). Diferentes formas de
maybe it is time to bring schools into technology. Alter- interação entre Internet e Modelagem: desenvolvimento de
natively, we may think that the classroom may possibly be projetos e o CVM. In J. C. Barbosa, A. D. Caldeira, & J. L.
Araújo (Org.), Modelagem Matemática na Educação Matemá-
dissolved into the Internet! tica Brasileira: Pesquisas e Práticas Educacionais (1 ed., Vol. 1,
pp. 195–214). Recife: SBEM.
Acknowledgments The ideas presented in this paper have been Borba, M. C., Malheiros, A. P. S., & Zulatto, R. B. A. (2007).
developed within GPIMEM, the research group I belong to. I would Educação a Distância Online (1 ed., Vol. 1, 160 pp). Belo
like to thank the members for their comments and suggestions, in Horizonte: Autêntica.
particular Ricardo Scucuglia, Ana Paula Malheiros, Claudio Worle, Borba, M., & Scheffer, N. (2004). Coordination of multiple repre-
Maria Helena Herminio, Marcus Maltempi, Orlando Figueiredo, sentations and body awareness [videopaper]. Educational Stud-
Regina Franchi, and Sandra Barbosa. For the same reason I also ies in Mathematics, 57(3) [on CD-ROM].
would like to thank George Gadanidis and Anne Kepple. Borba, M. C., & Villarreal, M. (2005). Humans-with-Media and
reorganization of mathematical thinking: Information and com-
munication technologies, modeling, experimentation and visual-
ization. USA: Springer (Mathematics Education Library).
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