ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the types of software available to support the teaching of numeracy. The Strategy documents for both literacy and numeracy make it quite clear that designated time is to be spent on meeting the objectives for literacy and numeracy, and not on teaching IT skills. Literacy and numeracy currently dominate the primary curriculum to the extent that in most schools they occupy virtually the whole morning every day, which means that everything else must be squeezed into the limited afternoon space, including the teaching of ICT as a discrete subject. Higgins and Muijs identify some distinct strands in mathematics software, which are built around assumptions about learning that stem from behaviourism. The software that belongs to both of these categories takes as its purpose the development of mathematical skills, and is very much concerned with the effective transmission of an existing body of knowledge.
