VISION STATEMENT FOR THE INSTITUTE FOR TECHNOLOGY IN MATHEMATICS

The Institute for Technology in Mathematics has been a pilot program under the New Jersey Department of Higher Education with two major objectives:

• to initiate curriculum transformation at the secondary level in mathematics by using technology
• to prepare a cadre of teachers who would serve as leaders and resource people in their school district in providing encouragement and technical assistance to their colleagues

The philosophy guiding the Institute is that the changes in technology, both from the cost factor and from the sophistication of the technology, means that the learning and doing of mathematics can be facilitated in ways not experienced pre-1990.

A simple example is that the theory presented in high school of asymptotes as predictors of the growth of functions previously stopped with horizontal and vertical asymptotes. Now the theory can be completed with students showing that any polynomial can be an asymptote and exploring the relationship between any rational function and its asymptotes.

Another example is numerical analysis, which needs usually enormous programming skills, has been radically changed by the computer algebra systems. These diminish greatly the programming aspects, allow the focus to be centered on the mathematical theory, and create more time for sophisticated problem solving.

Also, math models can now be generated using real data as opposed to "nice" data in most textbooks. As the new technologies are evolved, it is imperative that teachers are made aware of these changes and trained in their use in teaching mathematics.

Technology forces new ways of thinking about and doing mathematics, and it is an exciting and challenging medium for all of us.