They can support investigation by students in every area of mathematics, including geometry, statistics, algebra, measurement, and number. When technological tools are available, students can focus on decision making, reflection, reasoning, and problem solving. In mathematics-instruction programs, technology should be used widely and responsibly, with the goal of enriching students' learning of mathematics. The existence, versatility, and power of technology make it possible and necessary to reexamine what mathematics students should learn as well as how they can best learn it. In the mathematics classrooms envisioned in Principles and Standards, every student has access to technology to facilitate his or her mathematics learning under the guidance of a skillful teacher.
Technology enhances mathematics learning.
Technology can help students learn mathematics. For example, with calculators and computers students can examine more examples or representational forms than are feasible by hand, so they can make and explore conjectures easily. The graphic power of technological tools affords access to visual models that are powerful but that many students are unable or unwilling to generate independently. The computational capacity of technological tools extends the range of problems accessible to students and also enables them to execute routine procedures quickly and accurately, thus allowing more time for conceptualizing and modeling. Students' engagement with, and ownership of, abstract mathematical ideas can be fostered through technology.