Status+of+Online+Support+for+Mathematics+Discussions

The issue being discussed is: The discussion is taking place on the #mathmarkup page on the MathFuture wiki, and on a [|Mathematics24x7 discussion].
 * Support of mathematics and more specifically algebra and calculus on Web 2.0 and Social Networking sites.**

Where there is a lack of support for discussing mathematics online, it is an inconvenience rather than a major obstacle. One reason that I downplay the limitations is that the [|Web was born at CERN], a scientific research establishment, with the needs of scientists taken into consideration from the very beginning. The issue is part of a greater theme, that everyone should become more literate in mathematics. Our environment is becoming increasingly technological, and mathematics is a core component of technology. We are faced with many social and environmental problems, and use mathematics to analyse them and to validate potential solutions. The global financial crisis, and the portion of [|blame attributed to quantitative analysis], indicates that even experts need to improve their skills in applying mathematics to the real world. Online support of mathematical discourse is one tool that could assist in mathematics literacy. The Web supports text based information, and Web 2.0 is adding more structure, using formats like [|XML] and standards like [|W3C]. Mathematical discourse is inherently structured, as is technical discourse within any academic speciality. [|MathML] is one of the W3C standards that is supported in the Firefox browser, and it can be used for expressing equations online. Most browsers and websites support images, so [|LaTeX] representations of equations rendered as images is a way to get mathematical content into online discussions. Use of images in discussions is an obstacle for people who are blind, whereas MathML can be translated to audio or Braille. (Colin 23/7/2009). //Some of these ideas are based on group discussions on Mathematics24x7.ning.com and on the "Math, Math Education, Math Culture" discussion group on LinkedIn.com.//