Chapter 11: Learning Through Digital Technologies

How do pedagogical media transform the mathematical phenomena to which they seek to grant access? This chapter examines the ways in which understanding emerges when mathematical phenomena are engaged through digital pedagogical media—the spreadsheet, in particular. We adopt a hermeneutic perspective on both learning and research processes, within a depiction of an evolving mathematics education research landscape. We then consider the alternative insights into teaching and learning processes such a hermeneutic frame presents. We apply these ideas to data drawn from a study involving 10-year-old students, to illustrate how their learning was fashioned by the particular affordances of the pedagogical media. Further pedagogical implications associated with this influence will also be offered.