ICT IN SCIENCE TEACHING Georgeta Antonia CRĂCIUNESCU Repere Association – Bacau Branch - Romania
The computer is one of the basic tools nowadays. Its functions can improve the educational process. The computer is very useful both for student and teacher, but its use must be made in order to improve the quality of the educational process, not to complicate it. The computer should be used in order to pursue the acquisition of knowledge and training of skills enabling students to adapt to a society in constant evolution. It must be prepared for changes, to meet them with enthusiasm, without fear and resistance. Teacher himself lives in a society in change, and fortunately, he is at the forefront of change, so will have to adapt, adjust, and continuously improve. Considering the computer a teaching tool, several ways of developing computer in teaching approach could be noted: • Using the computer for editing scholar documents; • Using the computer as tool of teaching during the communication lessons, reviewing lessons or lectures, for which the computer can be the support for a synthesis, image, figures that can be designed for the purpose of facilitating the knowledge; • Operating numerical calculations, more or less complicated calculation to form numerical skills; • Learning a programming language; • Draw accurate graphs of functions; • Acquisition of precise information on the Internet; • Use and / or creation of educational software. As regards the impact on students, many teachers believe that students are more attracted to the lessons due to the animation and multimedia content and the real-life examples and the virtual simulations capture the attention and help them memorise easier the content. Today, teachers can use multimedia or e-Learning platforms. For example, iEARN platform enables teachers and young people to work together online using the Internet and new communications technologies. Over 2 million students worldwide are engaged in collaborative project work. Since 1988, iEARN has set up online links between schools, giving students the opportunity to engage in important educational projects with peers in their countries and around the world. iEARN is: - An inclusive and diverse community from the cultural point of view ; - A safe and structured environment where young people could communicate; - An opportunity to apply knowledge in the service of earning projects; - A community of teachers and students who could make a difference as part of the educational process. By participating in projects on different platforms, students develop skills to become involved in community affairs to which they belong, thus they become better prepared for future civic participation. The key to successful work in the project is to develop effective relationships with the educators in the network. It is extremely important to establish human relationships between teachers, to make ease the difficult task of collaboration in various educational projects, taking into account the differences of time and scheduling of scholar year, cultural differences,
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