Matemática e tecnologias — Ao encontro dos “nativos digitais” com os “manipulativos virtuais”

Th e starting point of this article is the analysis and discussion of a number of characteristics revealed by the youngsters that are currently in school: the so-called Digital Natives. Among the many signs that are possible to identify in them, it is stressed the fact that they show new ways of thinking, acting and, particularly, learning. Based in this scenario, it is intended to consider the role of technologies, namely the computer, in nowadays mathematics education. The emphasis is put on the exploration of virtual manipulatives, taking into account the theoretical concept of mediation developed by several authors, which becomes materialised in the idea of humans-with-media. Illustrative examples of what may be called the experimental-with-technologies approach are given and discussed. The purpose is to draw out the primacy of essential features of virtual manipulatives: experimentation/manipulation, visualisation and investigation. Such features are equally central to mathematical thinking and to the new virtual culture of learning