I work in an adult upgrading program at a community college where students work on individualized modular courses. The majority of our students take the minimum math needed to graduate. Because I use technology so seldom in our classes (except for regular calculators, and graphing calculators when needed by an occasional math 12 student), my assumptions are based on a generic technology in the math and science classroom, not any specific one.
A good use of technology in the math and science classroom would have technology integrated into both the physical layout of the classroom and the learning opportunities of the lessons. Optimally, all students would have access to the same type of equipment at their desks as the teacher (with the exception of projection equipment such as smart boards or projectors.)
The technology would be used to "play" with the theories that are presented, in order to let the students see what effect changing numbers and variables has on the structure or visual output of the formulae.
I believe that this is a good use of technology, because I feel that we should not use technology just for the sake of using it. I believe that technology is strongest when it is used as a tool to support the students in learning the theory, in that it helps motivate and engage students and speaks to different learning styles. I think that in math, especially at the higher levels, it can be hard for kinaesthetic learners because it may be hard to find manipulatives. Using technology allows them to be more "hands on". It can also support visual learners who need to look at models or diagrams rather than numbers or words.
Challenges to implementing this vision include lack of money to spend on technology (for example, it?s not cost effective for us when we have so few learners at this level) and the reluctance on the part of individual teachers to use technology when "the old ways are working fine".