• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
SRI logo
  • About
    • Press room
    • Our history
  • Expertise
    • Advanced imaging systems
    • Artificial intelligence
    • Biomedical R&D services
    • Biomedical sciences
    • Computer vision
    • Cyber & formal methods
    • Education and learning
    • Innovation strategy and policy
    • National security
    • Ocean & space
    • Quantum
    • Robotics, sensors & devices
    • Speech & natural language
    • Video test & measurement
  • Ventures
  • NSIC
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • 日本支社
Search
Close
Digital learning publications October 1, 2002

The Nature And Future Of Classroom Connectivity: The Dialectics Of Mathematics In The Social Space

Citation

Copy to clipboard


Stroup, W. M., Kaput, J., Ares, N., Wilensky, U., Hegedus, S. J., Roschelle, J., Mack, A., Davis, S., & Hurford, A. (2002). The nature and future of classroom connectivity: The dialectics of mathematics in the social space. Paper presented at the Psychology and Mathematics Education – North America, Athens, GA.

Introduction

New theoretical, methodological, and design frameworks for engaging classroom learning are provoked and supported by the highly interactive and group-centered capabilities of a new generation of classroom–based networks. This discussion group situates networked learning relative to a dialectic of (1) seeing mathematical and scientific structures as fully situated in socio-cultural contexts and ( 2) seeing mathematics as a way of structuring of our understanding of and design for group-situated teaching and learning. Acknowledging (1), significant classroom examples are then used to illustrate the reciprocal process (2) of mathematics structuring the social sphere (MS3). The mathematically informed ideas of space-creating play and dynamic structure are then used to update our ideas of generative teaching and learning and to situate these classroom examples. Then, returning again to the dialectic, this current work is critiqued from a socio-cultural perspective (1). Participation and agency are highlighted in this critique. The session closes with a discussion of future possibilities for classroom connectivity.

The highly interactive and group-centered capabilities of a new generation of classroom-based networks are helping both to support and to provoke the development of new theoretical, methodological and design frameworks for engaging classroom learning. This discussion group situates networked teaching and learning relative to a dialectic of (1) seeing mathematical and scientific structures as fully situated in socio-cultural contexts and (2) seeing mathematics as a way of structuring our understanding of and design for group-situated teaching and learning. The idea is that if mathematical and scientific structures are seen to fully participate in the social plane, then not only are they structured by the social plane (i.e., (1)) but they also structure social activity (i.e., (2)), including learning and teaching. Due to the group-focused interactivity and data collection capabilities of next generation networking, we now have a new tool to explore the dynamics of—and design for—classroom learning. A number of projects have responded to the challenge of learning in a network space by using mathematical/scientific ideas to organize and analyze classroom activity. Some of these recent projects focus on student learning and one is focused on teacher understanding. All of these projects have begun to use mathematics itself to organize their classroom-based work. This use of domain-related “big ideas” to organize and analyze group learning is what is meant by mathematics structuring the social sphere (MS3). The mathematically informed ideas of space-creating play and dynamic structure are then used to update our ideas of generative teaching and learning and to further situate the previous classroom examples. Our argument is that to take full advantage of these notions, and of the new classroom tools, researchers and educators must acknowledge explicitly the dialectic that exists between the domains of mathematics or science as structuring agents and the structuring functions of the social, cultural, historical milieu in which classroom learning and teaching in the domains exist. Returning again to the dialectic, this current work is then critiqued from a socio-cultural perspective focusing on ideas of participation and agency. Consistent with this dialectic framework, an overall notion of what is called generative teaching and learning is clarified in a way that both draws on previous work and uses the mutually constitutive relations captured by the dialectic for extending the prior analyses.

This paper is not about technology per se, but rather about a specific instance of the interaction and coevolution of design, technological affordance, and cognitive theory (Dewey, 1938; Hickman, 1990). Networks and ideas of generative teaching and learning can be and have been discussed without specific reference to technology (Wittrock, 1978, 1991; Learning Technology Center [LTC], 1992). The idea is that next generation networking can better support or “resonate” with generative practices and also, in iterating back to theory, allow us to further develop our ideas of what generativity is. To start this conversation, we may need to understand first how these new network designs are functionally evolved, and thus distinct, from the kinds of networking that has been with us for a long time. In this section the question becomes: What might be said to be “new” about next-generation network functionality in classrooms?

↓ Review online

Share this
Career call to action image

Work with us

Search jobs

How can we help?

Once you hit send…

We’ll match your inquiry to the person who can best help you.

Expect a response within 48 hours.

Our work

Case studies

Publications

Timeline of innovation

Areas of expertise

Institute

Leadership

Press room

Media inquiries

Compliance

Careers

Job listings

Contact

SRI Ventures

Our locations

Headquarters

333 Ravenswood Ave
Menlo Park, CA 94025 USA

+1 (650) 859-2000

Subscribe to our newsletter


日本支社
SRI International
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • DMCA
  • Copyright © 2023 SRI International
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}