The development of technology entailed the informatization of society. Today it is difficult to imagine a house in which there would be no TV and computer, a person who does not know how to use the Internet. Information technologies firmly and confidently penetrate into all spheres of our life. The education system was no exception. Today, not only the ministry but also the center for informatization and education quality assessment, located in the city of Ivanovo, are engaged in implementation problems.
Next, we will talk about the main problems and tasks of this trend, its capabilities, and also consider the positive and negative points.
Problem definition
Informatization of education is a rather complex modern trend related to the introduction of various kinds of information tools working on the basis of microprocessors, as well as electronic products and new pedagogical technologies based on the use of ICT for teaching, in the educational process.
Informatization of education, first of all, is aimed at the development of methods and tools focused on the implementation of basic educational and educational pedagogical goals using the latest achievements of computer technology. This includes computer training for schoolchildren, their mastery of modern ICT achievements, the modernization of education, goals, methods, and forms of instruction, its content.
Goals
The process of informatization of education has its own goals. These include:
1. Creation of favorable conditions for access to educational, scientific and cultural information.
2. The intensification of the interaction of participants in the pedagogical process using the means of informatization.
3. Change the model of education management.
4. Improving the quality of education through the use of ICT.
Main reasons
The development of informatization of education has the following prerequisites:
- The rapid process of informatization of society as a whole. So, today more and more people have personal computers, are connected to the worldwide network, including schoolchildren and students.
- The growth of the technical capabilities of computer science and their cost reduction, which makes them more affordable. Almost every school has its own computer class, and most modern schools and universities install computers, multimedia projectors and whiteboards in each classroom.
- The course towards the formation of a new information environment for society, the infosphere. Naturally, with such prospects, it is important to teach schoolchildren and students to use ICT correctly and usefully.
Process basics
Informatization of education is based on the achievement of pedagogical and computer sciences, such as:
- Informatics;
- cybernetics;
- theory of systems;
- didactics.
Thanks to them, not only new computer technologies are being introduced into education, with the help of which students can more effectively master knowledge, but also methods and approaches to teaching and its control are being developed. Electronic textbooks, tests, educational programs are created that use both the latest achievements of computer science and the fundamental principles of didactics.
The main directions of informatization of education
To implement the main goals, the center for the informatization of the quality of education offers to carry out work in the following areas:
1. Computerization of educational institutions, which includes not only providing schools and universities with computers, but also peripheral equipment, such as multimedia projectors and boards, printers, scanners, modems and more.
2. Connecting educational institutions to the Internet. In the future, this will allow students to use information and educational resources directly during the lesson, and teachers will be able to conduct lessons remotely or attend distance learning courses at the workplace.
3. Creation and implementation of distance learning technologies. Today, this form of training is considered one of the most promising. But at the same time, distance education has a number of drawbacks, among which one can single out the high cost of courses and a somewhat unworked knowledge control system. In the future, it is planned to carefully study the training methodology and reduce its cost, which will make it accessible to everyone.
4. Creation of a unified information system for monitoring training, which will help to conduct timely slices of knowledge, identify the disadvantages and advantages of a particular learning method. This is one of the main tasks pursued by informatization. The quality of education should significantly increase, experts say.
5. Providing educational institutions with electronic teaching aids corresponding to educational programs. Recently, the problem of developing electronic textbooks has also become popular, which will significantly increase the effectiveness of training. At the same time, today there are no uniform textbooks compiled according to the curriculum. In most cases, teachers independently develop electronic manuals for their students.
6. Opening of information educational centers in which not only students, but also teachers will be able to improve their computer literacy, get acquainted with the latest information technologies and methods of their application in the educational field.
7. Informatization of education is also the creation of a regulatory framework for the introduction of information and communication technologies in the educational process. Naturally, the introduction of new technologies requires a legislative framework that will not only fix the rights and obligations, the procedure for introducing ICTs, but also take into account the issue of copyrights for electronic manuals.
The benefits of informatization
Note the main advantages of this process.
1. Improving methods and technologies for the selection of training materials.
2. The introduction of new specialized disciplines related to the study of computer science and information technology both in universities and in schools.
3. A change in the methodology of teaching traditional school subjects that are not related to computer science. For example, the use of computers in biology or chemistry classes will allow experiments to be carried out by modeling them using special programs.
4. Additional motivation of students, which leads to increased learning. It has been noticed that computer-based lessons are more interesting to children than traditional ones.
5. Informatization of the education system will also allow the creation of new forms of interaction in the course of training: the student is a computer.
6. Improving the education management system.
7. The development of alternative and logical thinking.
8. Formation of strategies for finding solutions to educational and practical problems using ICT.
9. Individualization of training.
Disadvantages of using ICT in training
Despite its attractiveness and many advantages, the informatization of modern education has a number of significant disadvantages:
1. The restriction of live communication between the teacher and students. When using ICT, the main role in learning is gradually given to technical means, while the teacher, for the most part, is engaged in the selection of the necessary material and its subsequent presentation.
2. Decrease in communication skills due to the presence of dialogue: the student is a computer. The more time a student communicates with technical teaching aids, the less time is left for conversations with the teacher and other students. In this situation, communication skills are significantly reduced, which subsequently negatively affects socialization.
3. Decrease in social contacts, which is directly related to the previous paragraph. Communication with a computer reduces the level of social activity not only in the lesson, but also in life in general.
4. Use of ready-made information. Using modern ICT, children devote less time to searching and processing information. They take ready-made reports and essays from the Internet and read them. However, they do not carry out detailed selection and analysis of the material, but take ready-made samples. In the future, it will be quite difficult for such children to independently write term papers and dissertations with a high level of uniqueness.
5. Constant work at the computer can cause addiction. This is a serious problem that can lead not only to problems with studies, but also to psychological, physiological abnormalities.
6. Decreased health. Constant work at the computer negatively affects the formation of the child’s posture, his vision.
Capabilities
The Center for Informatization of Education notes that the introduction of ICT in the educational process will allow:
- Create an open education system that provides the opportunity to receive high-quality self-education. The learning process will become differentiated and individual.
- To make changes in the organization of the process of cognition and its shift towards systemic thinking.
- Provide new opportunities to accelerate the intellectual development of the individual.
- Develop new teaching practices.
- Organize instant feedback between students and ICT facilities.
- Visualize training information.
- Create a new highly effective education management system.
Implementation difficulties
Informatization of the education system has two main problems that significantly affect the speed of ICT implementation in the educational process.
1. The formation of the constant need for educators to use computers. The transition to a new system requires constant and continuous application of ICT in the course of training. Today, not all teachers understand the significance of this process and strive to conduct classes according to old standards, without the use of technology.
2. The need for continuous improvement of the information competence of the teacher. When working with ICT, the teacher must constantly improve, learn new methods and techniques of work, master newer and newer programs. Not everyone is happy with this state of affairs. In addition, sadly, not all teachers know how to use a computer.
Informatization Tools
Another issue that needs to be considered is the means of informatization of education. This is computer hardware and software that is used to achieve educational goals.
The main means of informatization include:
- Means for recording and reproducing sound and video;
- radio and television equipment;
- projection and optical film equipment;
- computer training tools - programs, textbooks;
- telecommunication training tools.
Below we consider the features of the use of computers and electronic textbooks in the field of education.
Use of computers in the educational process
As already mentioned, the informatization of education is also the use of computers in the educational process. This direction is called computerization and implies the active use of computer technology in the learning process.
How can I diversify the lesson using a personal computer?
- To acquaint students with a particular topic, backing it up with a colorful presentation. With its help, two channels that are responsible for receiving information will be involved at once - hearing and vision. The presentation may include not only pictures and tables, basic definitions, but also video, audio materials.
- The use of video materials - films, videos. Especially successful is the use of such materials in the study of history, literature, biology and geography, chemistry, astronomy.
- Using special computer modulator programs. With their help, you can conduct various experiments - physical or chemical, to simulate galaxies and systems in astronomy. All that is needed is to set the computer data.
- The use of training programs. The most well-known programs for learning languages, which offer not only choose the correct answer, but also enter a translation of the word, leave phrases from a specific set of letters.
- Introduction of computer testing. Using computers to verify knowledge will not only make life easier for teachers, but will also allow for more accurate assessment. The computer itself randomly asks students questions from the knowledge base laid down in it and offers answers. Depending on how many students will give the right, the final grade is set.
- Use of special reference programs, dictionaries and translators. Work is also underway on electronic dictionaries and reference books. Thanks to them, students can find the information they need in a matter of minutes, just by opening the desired program and entering a keyword to search.
Electronic textbook as one of the main means of informatization
When we examined the technologies of informatization of education, we also mentioned electronic textbooks and manuals. It is believed that with their help, students will be able to learn the material much better. What are the reasons? In the use of not only text, but also multimedia material.
The classic electronic textbook contains:
- Text information. These may be rules, facts, texts for reading.
- Schedule. This includes not only illustrations and photographs, but also tables, charts, graphs.
- Audio and video materials. This includes audio recordings of works, texts for listening and retelling, etc., scientific and documentary films, thanks to which students will be able to better learn a particular topic.
- Block test tasks. This includes tests and open-ended assignments. At the same time, it is important that the electronic textbook contains fields for entering answers, can check and analyze them, indicating the mistakes made.
- Background information block. There should be links to additional materials, online libraries and other information resources.
However, the problem is that there is no single electronic textbook for teaching this or that subject. In the future, the Center for Informatization of Education is obliged to carry out work to create uniform textbooks for all subjects for their further use in schools.
Ivanovo Informatization Center
Today, the Ivanovo Center for Informatization and Education Quality Assessment is most interested in solving these problems.
Specialists of the center carry out work in the following areas:
1. Informatization of educational institutions of the Ivanovo region.
2. Education of teachers in the field of ICT.
3. Assessment of the quality of education in the region.
4. Work with students in the field of ICT.
5. Conducting annual advanced training courses for teachers of ICT and computer science.
6. Presentation and assistance in the acquisition of new textbooks on ICT and computer science.
7. Creation of a software bank at the course of computer science and ICT.
8. Conducting seminars and courses on new computer technologies.
9. Creation of a methodological bank for teachers of computer science and ICT.
10. Work camp "Young computer scientist".
11. Distance learning school "Create and communicate."
conclusions
Informatization of education is a complex and lengthy process aimed at introducing ICT tools and new teaching methods into training. It has both advantages and disadvantages. Its main goal is to improve the quality of education at all levels.