On the behalf of the Beijing Normal University and members of the International Program Committee of the ATCM conference, we are delighted and honored to have this opportunity to introduce the papers of the ATCM 2009 – “A journey to discover more mathematics”.
We are fortunate to have presenters from a wide spectrum of scientists and educators, whose presentations and workshops will demonstrate the most current trends in technology for mathematics and mathematics with technology. It is particularly wonderful to have so many participants from many Asian countries, America, Australia and Europe.
Presented here papers address a very wide spectrum of topics and ideas. We can find here papers concentrating on using computer software in teaching mathematics, papers on using Internet, multimedia, computer games and other tools for interactive and online mathematics courses delivery, as well as research papers from pure mathematics where technology was used to produce some new results. Large part of this book, as well as the conference presentations, is devoted directly to teaching mathematics with the use of Dynamic Geometry tools and Computer Algebra Systems. There is also a significant set of papers on using Excel in teaching mathematics and statistics courses.
It is in particular very important to notice how fast things are changing in technology for mathematics. Quite often computer programs that we used for years in teaching mathematics disappear in a matter of weeks and new tools come in a matter of years. The society is changing also very rapidly, and every day we are facing new challenges in the classroom. All these transformations and transitions make life of mathematics instructors very difficult. In this conference we will find, like in previous years, a few new developments in technology for mathematics. Some of them are completely new and hot, some other are new and important features added to well known software. In this conference we will find also a number of papers presenting a new approach to mathematics teaching through computer games or multimedia.
We welcome you all to learn from the authors, get in touch with the newest technology developments and experiment with technology tools during ATCM workshops. We wish you happy hunting for new ideas, solutions, and great personal contacts.
We would like to express our appreciation to the local organizers, in particular to the Beijing Normal University for the enormous task of planning and preparation of ATCM 2009 – one of the most enjoyable and instructive conferences in Asia. We thank also the members of the International Program Committee and external reviewers for their great contribution in reviewing papers.
Editors of ATCM 2009