With the reality of COVID-19, students and teachers all over the world have to make drastic changes to the traditional teaching and learning approach, relying on technology to conduct digital communication – including lessons, assessment tasks, engagement with students and virtual committee meetings – a ‘new normal’. As a consequence, digital literacy and attributes that were previously difficult to address, are being fostered in students to help them successfully navigate the twenty-first century. This situation makes online and blended learning even more relevant than before. The sixteen papers in this (very timely) special issue address three main themes in this discipline: principles of design, social interaction and construction of knowledge, and how the use of online tools and resources is conceptualised in different mathematics teaching contexts.
An editorial reflects on possible changes of mathematics education due to the pandemic: Will 2020 be remembered as the year in which education was changed?