I originally wanted to compare US and Western European mathematics instruction, paying particular attention to the use of tech.  After I did some preliminary research (and had my imagination sparked by two articles from Dr. Droujkova), I realized that 'Western Europe' is too broad a topic.  Therefore, we will be focusing on mathematics instruction in Finland, whose education system has been getting a lot of positive press lately. 

If you wish to search for articles written in Finnish, Dr. Droujkova has kindly offered this tip (originally posted in Drafts):

I just used Google Translate to find out what "mathematics education" is in Finnish, then put that phrase in the search, then translated what I found into English using the Chrome "translate" button on the results page:

  https://www.google.com/search?q=matematiikan+opetusta&aq=f&oq=matematiikan+opetusta

Personally, I've found that the Google translation is pretty accurate; words that don't translate directly are usually easy to figure out by context clues.

Task 1:  Please read the following articles that were originally posted by Dr. Droujkova:

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html#.USVQkxMCz50.email

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/

Find at least one additional article about Finnish mathematics instruction; post the link and give a brief summary.  Answer at least one of the following questions: (1) What are the main differences/similarities between the US and Finnish systems regarding tech use? (2) How do you feel tech might figure into the achievement differences (if at all)? (3) Do you feel that Finland's approach might rely more or less on classroom tech (used as instructional aids) than the US (if so, why)?  Please include your personal opinions about the information presented in your article.

Task 2:  Find a blog post, discussion forum post, or article written by a Finnish math, science, or computer literacy teacher that mentions instructional tech.  Please provide a link and summary, and answer one of the following questions: (1) How is tech use similar or different than in the US? (2) What types of tech are used? (3) Does one nation's system seem to be more accepting of tech, or not?  As with Task 1, please include your personal opinions about the information that you found.

Task 3:  This last task centers around ways that tech can unite the international learning community.  How can we use tech to help students who don't speak our language (aside from translation software)?  Find a piece of tech (video, manipulative, etc.) that a student unfamiliar with the language (or written numerical system) could use to learn about a concept.  Please share it along with reasons why you like it.