This working paper has been developed and created as a part of a study visit to the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning in the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University. This joint paper, written by the visiting researcher, Slaviša Radović, from the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Belgrade, and Don Passey, the Director of the Centre of Technology Enhanced Learning, was made possible through an award from The British Scholarship Trust. This award enabled the researchers to work together over a month-long period, during October to November 2014.

The focus of this paper is concerned with mathematics education – its practice for the 11- to 14-year-old-age range, how technology can be used to support teaching and learning for this age group, and the roles of homework in this context. There have been few studies that have explored homework practices in depth, few that have explored these practices within the context of mathematics education and for 11 to 14 year old pupils. This paper takes this exploration further, looking at these areas but also where technologies are being used. Findings indicate that ICT may well in this context be providing a more neutral medium, allowing pupils to reflect more ‘coldly’ on issues and challenges, which they might otherwise have difficulty in discussing in a face-to-face way. This medium takes an important step in moving concerns of pupils from ‘the need to produce right answers’ to ‘a focus on processes of working, enabling them to describe their issues to support their future learning’.