Teaching mathematics in the digital era: Standards and beyond

Recent official education-related policy documents at both the international and the national levels acknowledge the need for integrating information and communication technology (ICT) into education, and especially into mathematics education. These documents also concur that the teacher is central to such integration. Yet research on teacher education points to dissatisfaction with the results of most pre- and in-service teacher education initiatives to encourage ICT use. The main reason cited for this dissatisfaction is the disparity between teachers’ expectations and the contents of these initiatives. This disparity calls attention to the issue of ICT standards for teachers. The aim of this chapter is twofold: (1) to expand the investigation of existing ICT standards for (mathematics) teachers by examining national policies and institutional frameworks in several OECD countries and in Australia; and (2) to define a conceptual framework to capture various dimensions of teachers’ professional knowledge and skills oriented toward the use of digital technology. Our analysis highlights the need to consolidate the terminology used and to develop standards and competency frameworks geared to specific subjects (in our case, mathematics) and age levels.