  The use of technology in schools has been one of the most debated topics
around mathematics education. In some countries there is a huge investment, in
others there is a down-scaling. Malaysia decided in 2013 to put its 10 million
students to use Google laptops and Google apps, while Australia in the same
year decided it would not continue funding their own high school laptop
program. Who is right from the educational point of view? The last major
curriculum document written in the world to date, the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS) in the United States, whose mathematics part is coordinated by
the well known mathematician William McCallum, sets as one of its standards for
mathematical practice: "Mathematically proficient students consider the
available tools when solving a mathematical problem. These tools might include
pencil and paper, concrete models, a ruler, a protractor, a calculator, a
spreadsheet, a computer algebra system, a statistical package, or dynamic
geometry software." Strong moves need substantiation from research, including
the analysis of the existing situation in different countries. What does
research say about the use of computers in schools in present time and the use
of different pieces of software from spreadsheets to computer algebra systems?
