MathEdLab

Srinivasa Ramanujan, born in the 19th century, was a independent learner of mathematics and his story is inspiring although he lived a very short life, dying aged 32.

Learning mathematics independently in the 21st century is exciting, fun and not as difficult as many would like us to believe. Technology has brought current knowledge of mathematics to everyone. Much of the content of mathematics that needs to be learned at school and at university is publicly available on the internet from reputable sources. These sources include some of the most prestigious higher education institutions around the world. Does the availability of these sources mean that mathematics has to be learned in solitude?

Learning mathematics is a social cultural activity. Therefore, at some point the learner will need to engage in conversations about the mathematics they are learning with other learners, teachers, and mentors. Years ago, learners of mathematics and mathematicians communicated through letters, written with pen and paper. Today, there many different ways in which we can communicate with others about our learning of mathematics – emails, Twitter, Facebook, Discord, etc. These means of communication and online communities pose challenges for academic integrity in Mathematics, and the advent of COVID-19 has brought these challenges to the fore. Some questions that need research to answer are: 1) Does technology pose a threat to academic integrity in mathematics assessments? 2) Are online learning communities a threat to academic integrity in mathematics? 3) What new forms of assessments do we need while learners are encouraged to embrace technology widely in their learning of mathematics? This post is a call for a new research agenda on these issues.