ICT as a change agent of mathematics teaching in Swedish secondary school

There is a common assumption that computers will change the conditions for mathematics teaching. In this article the author discusses how the computer as a change-agent may influence the conditions, methods and results in everyday mathematics teaching. The empirical material is collected through interviews with eighteen teachers in lower secondary school. The author has also participated in all computer-aided lessons given by two teachers during one year. That means 700 possible computer-aided lessons. Teaching of mathematics seems to have such a strong tradition that the computer as a change-agent is relatively weak. The fact is that the computer is assimilated into an old tradition of methods and contents. A great deal of the computer-aided lessons give attention to drilling pupils with different types of drill-program where they can learn mathematical procedures. In some lessons laborative work is pursued with the intention that the pupils computer-aided learn mathematical concepts.