First, the source and performance of the comprehensiveness and diversity of information technology courses
From the historical process of offering computer (information technology) course in basic education in China, we can see that all schools offering this course started from elective courses or activity courses and gradually became popular. Due to the unbalanced development of economy and education in different parts of our country, the conditions of software and hardware equipment, teachers' level, class arrangement and students' quality are very different, and the educational administrative leaders at all levels have different understandings of computer education in primary and secondary schools. Therefore, different levels and flexibility are allowed in macro management; In the past, computer courses in primary and secondary schools were only a major part of computer education in primary and secondary schools, and computer education also included computer-aided teaching and computer-aided management. The former State Education Commission promoted these three aspects at the same time in macro management. At present, the Ministry of Education integrates the teaching of information technology courses in primary and secondary schools and the application experiments of modern educational technology into information technology education in primary and secondary schools. The teaching objectives and contents of the information technology course have evolved from "cultural theory" to "tool theory". With the progress and development of computer software and hardware technology and network communication technology, computers (information technology) have been widely used. It is a common understanding that the purpose of information technology education in the field of basic education is mainly to use computers instead of learning computers, but to use computers as tools to deal with the application of teachers and students in the teaching process of various subjects, so that students can master the basic information processing ability. At the same time, information technology courses should be integrated with the teaching or activities of other disciplines. It is necessary to "dilute" the "discipline" of the computer (information technology) course and emphasize its "comprehensiveness".
In the future, with the popularity of the Internet, from a technical point of view, the improvement of PC performance will only be as an interface to connect with the Internet, that is, the more important purpose of people using PCs is to obtain a lot of information through PCs, so learning computers is to obtain information, process information and publish information. Moreover, because the purpose of accessing the Internet is to obtain and process information related to people's study and work, information technology must be gradually integrated with other courses, which further reflects the comprehensiveness of this course.
The differences of economic development and educational environment in different places also make information technology courses diversified in its development process. The diversity mentioned here refers to the diversity of curriculum and teaching in schools all over the country.
(A) the main performance of comprehensive information technology courses
1. From the nature, tasks and objectives of the course, it reflects the integration of students' knowledge, skills and abilities.
Information technology course is a basic culture and basic tool course combining knowledge and skills. This course is offered in three stages of basic education-primary school, junior high school and senior high school. Its nature and tasks are basically the same, but the specific objectives of primary school, junior high school and senior high school are different. The different reasons are mainly due to the consideration of students' mental development level and their knowledge, experience and emotional needs at different ages. The main contents are basically the same, especially in the latest stage, which is basically zero-starting teaching. The difference lies in the depth of knowledge points and the degree of understanding and mastery. The main task of this course is to cultivate students' ability to use information technology tools and combine them with their current study and life. In other words, this course is closely related to students' current study life, which improves students' learning ability and learning level. Other courses can be used and practiced in information technology courses to improve the comprehensive application ability of various disciplines. For example, the knowledge of Chinese Pinyin can be consolidated and improved through the practice of computer Chinese character input, and the study of various commonly used tools and software is conducive to the study of other disciplines and the improvement of comprehensive quality. Word processing software can improve students' writing ability; Simulation software can cultivate students' exploration ability in social life and scientific research; Spreadsheets help to obtain and analyze data; Database management software can help students collect, organize, classify and retrieve information; Graphics software can display graphics to help students explain scientific and social information. With the help of word processing software, database management software and spreadsheet software, teachers can better cultivate students' high-level thinking ability.
2. From the position and function of curriculum in the process of school education modernization, it embodies the integration of education development.
Education is developing in the direction of "facing modernization, facing the future and facing the world". In the process of school education modernization, educational informatization is an important part of educational modernization, which drives educational modernization. In a sense, the degree of school education informatization represents the level of school education modernization. Information technology course is the breakthrough point of school education informatization.
Today, with the rapid development of science and technology, developing countries are facing both opportunities for leap-forward development and more severe challenges than developed countries. We must strive to achieve the leap-forward development of basic education, and talent training will have a late-comer advantage. In the process of realizing the leap-forward development of basic education, information technology curriculum is the first step, breakthrough and pillar. This is why the Ministry of Education stipulates that information technology should be included in compulsory courses.
3. From the position and function of curriculum in the integration of information technology and subject curriculum, it embodies the integration of modern teaching ideas and learning methods.
Computer-aided instruction has been carried out in primary and secondary schools in China for more than ten years. Experts summed up the experience and lessons, put forward the idea of integrating information technology with disciplines and courses, and are conducting experimental research. The so-called "integration" is simply the organic combination of modern educational technology with information technology as the core and the teaching process to guide students' learning. This is a modern teaching concept and method that needs the support of computer information technology, and every integration is a complicated process.
As a practical system, education is a dual-subject activity. Educators are the subject of "teaching" and the educated are the subject of "learning". The quality of education depends not only on the subject characteristics of educators and the quality of information sources created by subject characteristics, but also on the characteristics of educatees as active recipients of information, such as the degree of selectivity, autonomy and creativity. Integration can greatly improve the subject characteristics of educators, increase the depth and breadth of educational materials processed by educators, and thus increase the creativity and quality of information sources; Integration can enable educators to receive feedback information to the maximum extent, understand and control the educational process more effectively, and urge educators to improve their own quality. At the same time, integration also provides a foundation for the development of the subject characteristics of the educated, so that the educated can give full play to various sensory functions and absorb a wide range of information; Educated people can enjoy a wide range of information sources and choose information according to their own needs; Educated people can actively choose learning methods and methods according to their own level; Build your own knowledge structure and discover new connections between knowledge.
Information technology course is the basis for students to accept modern educational methods and means. On the other hand, the integration of information technology and various subjects will enable students to use and learn information technology in the process of learning various subjects. Information technology, like human natural language, can be used together with learning, learning and various applications. This will change students' traditional way of learning, that is, teachers talk and students listen, and change passive learning into active learning.
4. The comprehensive function of curriculum in cultivating students' discovery learning.
At present, there is a consensus that information technology is changing people's production, life, work and study. Information technology courses play a pioneering role in this change. The most important thing for students is the change of learning style.
In teaching research, people's favorite words are "teaching fish" and "teaching fish". In other words, it means "teaching students what they already know" and "giving students ways to acquire and explore knowledge". Information technology itself is a tool for spreading information (here information can be understood as knowledge) and processing information, and it is a tool for both "fish" and "fishing". Therefore, on the basis of changing students' passive learning into active learning, information technology courses can also raise the learning mode to the height of discovery learning, laying a good foundation for cultivating students' creative quality.
5. From the course content and learning environment, it reflects the synthesis of learning atmosphere.
The teaching content of information technology course always keeps up with the social demand for computer applications, mainly focusing on computer network application technology and commonly used software. These are what you learned, what I learned, what others learned, and what everyone in society learned. According to a survey, more than 50% middle school students in economically developed areas have studied computers through various channels of family and society before they study computer courses at school, and some students have special skills, such as typesetting design, picture processing, web page making and so on. In other words, the information technology curriculum is no longer the patent of the school, but gradually socialized, which reflects the integration of the learning atmosphere of the school and society.
(B) the performance and analysis of the diversity of information technology courses
1. There are various teaching materials and teaching machines.
According to the specific situation of the development of computer education in primary and secondary schools in China, the Ministry of Education has been implementing the principle of "one syllabus and many books" in macro-management of teaching materials used in computer courses. In June 2000, the document Notice on Popularizing Information Technology Education in Primary and Secondary Schools (Ji Jiao [2000] No.33) issued by the Ministry of Education clearly put forward the guiding ideology of "encouraging the diversification of teaching materials for information technology courses". The purpose of this guiding ideology is to meet the needs of local characteristics on the one hand, and to encourage high-quality products on the other hand, so as to standardize the teaching materials of information technology courses when conditions are ripe. Now there are dozens of textbooks compiled all over the country. From the content selection, layout design and layout structure, it can be said to be diversified.
In the future, in the selection of teaching materials, provincial education administrative departments should strengthen overall coordination, select information technology teaching materials according to local specific conditions and teaching arrangements, and do a good job in promoting the use of excellent teaching materials.
In terms of teaching equipment, schools all over the country are equipped with teaching machines, high school and low school machines. Conditional schools have updated computer room equipment and built high-grade computer rooms. Better schools are developing towards the construction of multimedia computer network comprehensive classrooms, campus networks, electronic reading rooms and electronic lesson preparation rooms, but middle and low-grade PCs are still widely used in primary and secondary schools.
2. There are various teaching hours and courses.
As an elective course, information technology has no fixed teaching hours in the past, and even the starting grade is uncertain. The teaching hours and class grades are generally decided by the local education administrative organ or school. Some have more teaching hours, while others have less. Junior high school and senior high school usually start classes in the first and second grades, some for one year and some for two years. Under the guidance of new educational ideas, we must constantly sum up experience and make it develop in the direction of standardization.
3. There are various teaching requirements and assessment standards.
1997 10 In June, the former State Education Commission published the "Guidelines for Computer Courses in Primary and Secondary Schools (Revised Draft)" to standardize and guide the teaching of computer courses in primary and secondary schools across the country. Most of the information technology textbooks used in primary and secondary schools in China are compiled according to the requirements of 1997 "Guiding Outline". However, because it is an elective course, it is influenced by many factors, such as leaders' attention, teachers' information technology level, equipment conditions, economic conditions and so on. Moreover, it is arbitrary in teaching requirements and assessment standards and lacks standardized requirements. Some schools don't even have any requirements and assessments. The teacher has the final say, so he can ask questions and speak at will. This is a developing problem, which will be solved through the efforts of educational administrative departments and schools at all levels, teaching and assessment according to the requirements of compulsory courses.
4. Students' learning interests and learning levels are varied.
Many middle school students, especially high school students, have been exposed to and studied computers from various channels such as society, family and school before the information technology course begins, and have mastered some information technology knowledge. Some students also have specialties, and different students have different interests in various contents of information technology courses. With the popularization of computer applications to families, this situation will be more obvious. Teachers must pay attention to understand and study this change and improve the organizational form of teaching. Meet the learning requirements and interests of different students and improve teaching efficiency.
5. There are various courses and different levels of teachers.
For a long time, information technology courses in middle schools all over the country range from activity courses and labor skills courses to elective courses, compulsory courses and compulsory courses. At the beginning, the source of teachers changed from other disciplines. In recent years, the undergraduate students majoring in computer science trained by normal universities have gradually enriched into some middle schools. After a period of training, the non-normal computer talents or self-taught computer professionals temporarily recruited by schools from the society have gradually become qualified for course teaching. Teachers' academic qualifications and levels vary greatly, which can also be said to be diverse. Moreover, under the influence of the overall environment of the information industry, teachers in information technology disciplines in primary and secondary schools are highly mobile, and personnel come in and out, which is more prominent than other disciplines in primary and secondary schools. This is determined by the specific conditions and requirements of this new discipline and its development law.
There is no doubt that the curriculum form and teachers' level will develop towards standardization. Through hard work, the information technology course should become a compulsory course, and the teacher's education should reach the level of undergraduate graduation.
Second, the comprehensive development and application of information technology courses
The comprehensive function of information technology course in basic education develops with the development of information technology, and is gradually strengthened with the deepening of education and teaching reform. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the comprehensiveness, development and application of information technology courses for education and teaching reform. This section raises several related issues for discussion.
(A) the development of the integration of information technology and teaching in various disciplines needs the popularization of information technology.
Nowadays, computer-aided instruction is developing towards the integration of information technology and subject teaching, which is not only the inevitable result of the development of computer technology, especially internet technology, but also the irresistible trend of education facing modernization. With the in-depth development of education reform and the formation and continuous improvement of the information environment of school education, information technology is used as a teaching means to improve teaching efficiency and quality in the teaching of various subjects in middle schools. Teaching is a practical system of both teachers and students' activities. Teachers use information technology for teaching, but also require students to master and apply information technology for active learning. For example, in the practical research of curriculum integration by using the tool platform, the software Geometry Sketchpad, which is widely used all over the country, has been used in the teaching process of geometry, physics and other disciplines, and achieved good results. A large number of application results on how to use the sketchpad show that the use of the sketchpad in geometry teaching is not satisfied with the teacher's explanation and the students' listening, but better enables the students to master the basic operation of the sketchpad and draw inferences under the guidance of the teacher. It can be seen that the dependence of various disciplines on information technology courses will be strengthened, which is also the improvement direction of information technology courses in content arrangement and teaching methods.
Now, the study of various disciplines needs to shift from the traditional courseware making to the application and study of information technology. In the future, with the popularity of the Internet and the establishment of various subject material banks, information technology courses will teach students how to use computer equipment to study various subjects online at school or at home. In this way, information technology courses and other disciplines have formed a complementary relationship, and the development of this relationship can really play the role of information technology in promoting teaching reform.
(2) The realization of campus network functions and the exertion of its functions need the popularization of information technology.
At present, schools with better conditions are building campus networks, which provide a good environment for educational informatization and can be said to lead the highway of information and knowledge exchange from classrooms to the whole country and even the whole world. Whether this "expressway" is the informationization and modernization of education, we say it is far from it, just an environment where we can gallop. What really makes it work is people-teachers, students and all the staff who serve education. These people must master certain information technology, so that there are "goods" and "cars" on the expressway, and "goods" can be used by them.
The situation of teachers and students learning information technology together will last for a long time, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for information technology courses. It is teachers' unshirkable responsibility to seize this opportunity and make information technology courses the forefront of educational reform. We should give full play to students' enthusiasm and expertise in learning and increase their knowledge and skills in the practice of network construction and development.
(c) Information technology will become a basic course combining knowledge and skills.
In the future information society, the mastery and application of information technology will be one of the standards to measure a person's cultural level and ability. The popularization of information technology education is not only a kind of labor technology education and vocational education, but also its comprehensive role in basic education is constantly developing, expanding and strengthening. In the future, information technology courses will be a kind of basic cultural education and talent quality education, just like Chinese and mathematics courses. The information technology course in primary and secondary schools will become a basic course combining knowledge and skills.
According to different grades, teach the same module at different levels.
Information technology courses offered in basic education, regardless of primary school, junior high school and senior high school, are now teaching at zero starting point. This is due to many reasons and characteristics, such as low popularization rate of information technology courses, few class hours, rapid development of information technology, dependence on equipment and strong practicality. Moreover, it is difficult to compile textbooks that are completely interconnected and meet the needs. In the future, information technology courses will be 100% popular, and the class hours will be increased to realize the connection from primary school to high school. We think this will be a hierarchical connection according to modules, which is more suitable for the characteristics and actual needs of information technology courses for the following reasons:
1. Textbooks can be compiled according to different learning stages and grades, age characteristics, cognitive level and actual needs. Taking nine-year compulsory education as an example, we can imagine learning information technology from the fourth grade of primary school until graduation from junior high school. In these six years of study, there are information technology courses in every academic year. The content learned can be summarized as basic knowledge, basic operation, application software, etc. The difference is that the textbooks of each grade are different in content depth and mastery of requirements. This difference is determined by the age characteristics, cognitive level and learning practice needs of students of all grades. The same module is taught at different levels according to grades, taking the basic knowledge module as an example. For example, in the fourth grade of primary school, the knowledge of computer system can guide students to know computer hardware and software only on the impression level, and gradually increase the breadth and depth of students' understanding of software and hardware with the improvement of grade.
2. All grades can start classes at the same time. Modular and hierarchical teaching can ensure that all grades start classes at the same time, and each grade has appropriate teaching materials. This is especially important for schools offering new information technology courses. If it is only offered in grade one and grade one, senior students will not be able to study, which will make many students unable to learn information technology in basic education. Teaching at different levels according to modules is actually a hierarchical connection that conforms to the cognitive level. When the junior grade rises to the senior grade, it is the starting point of a new level, and you will not feel the repetition of the content. Starting classes at the same time in all grades can give full play to the comprehensive role of information technology courses, improve students' active learning ability, promote teaching reform, and help students cultivate their innovative spirit.
It can adapt to the rapid development of information technology. The teaching of information technology courses in primary and secondary schools emphasizes the cultivation of tools and application ability of information technology courses. The teaching materials of information technology courses often can't keep up with the rapid development of information technology, which is the common experience of many schools. In fact, it is inevitable and long-term. This problem can be solved by teaching at different levels according to modules. For new technologies, new concepts and new applications, only the textbooks of senior grades are appropriately modified, and then the textbooks are systematically modified after popularization and maturity. This can not only ensure the needs of work and study after graduation in senior grades, keep up with the rapid development of information technology, but also make the whole set of teaching materials relatively stable.
(E) the "discipline" that can not be ignored
In basic education, information technology courses exist in the form of disciplines, that is to say, information technology courses are disciplinary, which is a big difference between China and other western developed countries. We now emphasize its comprehensiveness and downplay its disciplinary nature in order to better play its pioneering and leading role in the process of educational informationization and modernization. This does not mean that discipline can be ignored. On the contrary, with the popularization of information technology courses, it is developing in the direction of a basic cultural discipline. Like Chinese and mathematics, it is an important part of cultural quality education. Computers are more unique in developing students' intelligence, training students' logical thinking and solving practical problems. This is also an important topic in our teaching and practical research, involving teaching objectives, the choice of teaching content, the relationship between discipline and synthesis, teaching models and teaching methods and many other issues.
Discipline should not be ignored, it should be studied and developed. It directly affects the construction and development of information technology courses. Without discipline, the foundation of discipline form will be lost. The so-called discipline means that the discipline has an independent theoretical basis and research and development direction, is an independent department in colleges and universities, and plays a role in conveying qualified students to higher-level schools in middle school education.
For more than ten years, schools offering computer (information technology) courses have sent many excellent students to the computer department of colleges and universities, many of whom have become the backbone of information technology development.
Third, the open teaching of information technology courses
"The process of information technology education is the process of students' hands-on practice; It is also a creative process for students. Students need to use their brains, imagine boldly and do it themselves in the process of completing a work and learning with computers. Developing information technology education is a good way to cultivate students' innovative spirit and practical ability. We must never talk, learn and test information technology education according to the old way of learning a subject, which will stifle children's creative spirit. " (Quoted from the report of Chen Zhili, Minister of Education, at the National Conference on Information Technology Education in Primary and Secondary Schools on June 25, 2000) The open teaching proposed in this section is to change the traditional teaching method that teachers focus on classroom teaching and students listen.
(A) the significance of open teaching
The open teaching mentioned here refers to the teaching method of giving full play to students' active learning under the guidance of teachers; It is to teach in a task-driven way, to test the learning effect in a job assessment way, and to create and apply in a collaborative way; The theoretical basis of open teaching is "constructivism learning theory" and "discovery learning".
Open teaching is a structural teaching reform that actively explores information technology courses and cultivates students' innovative spirit and practical ability. It is different from the innovation of teaching mode and is a real teaching reform under the guidance of new ideas.
Open teaching is conducive to the reform of students' learning methods; Conducive to the development of students' personality; It is beneficial to cultivate students' cooperative learning and discussion spirit; Conducive to the development of students' innovative spirit; It is beneficial to cultivate students' good information literacy; It is conducive to laying a solid foundation for students' future work and lifelong learning.
Schools should create necessary conditions for the implementation of open teaching of information technology courses, including teaching environment and assessment methods.
(B) the implementation of open teaching conditions
Traditional teaching methods are formed under the influence of past teaching concepts, teaching conditions and other factors. Open teaching is produced under the guidance of a new concept-constructivism theory. To turn this idea into reality, we must have the necessary teaching conditions to support it. This teaching condition is the optimization degree of the four elements that constitute the teaching system: teachers, students, teaching materials and teaching media. Then, to what extent or what conditions do these four elements have to meet the required teaching conditions? Let's discuss them one by one.
Teachers: Teachers are the organizers, instructors and invigilators of students' academic achievements in the implementation of open teaching. They play the role of organization and supervision and are living elements. Therefore, the requirements for teachers are relatively high, and they should have the spirit of devoting themselves to teaching reform in political thought, and have the quality of loving education, students and perseverance; In business, we should not only have rich information technology knowledge and practical ability (the major has reached the level of undergraduate graduation), but also have the ability to organize students to learn; Ability to stimulate students' interest in learning; Have the ability to evaluate students' academic performance under the new concept.
Students are the ultimate embodiment of teaching objectives and the most vivid elements of personality. The requirement for students is that they have experience in contacting or learning computers (information technology) (the degree of mastery can be uneven); There is an environment for learning information technology on the computer at home or in society. These two requirements do not mean that all students must have them. As far as a teaching class is concerned, it is best for the former to reach 70-80% and the latter to reach 40-50%. Of course, this does not mean that students can't practice open teaching without such conditions, but that the starting point of opening up should be lower and all information technology equipment for learning should be provided by schools.
Teaching materials: The teaching materials used in open teaching should be different from those used in general classroom teaching, and special teaching materials should be written for open teaching. Compared with general textbooks, special textbooks should highlight the following characteristics:
(1) It is necessary to clearly put forward the (minimum or graded) specific objectives and learning guidance to be achieved by each teaching module (teaching unit). For example, Chinese character input skills can be qualified by inputting at least 15 Chinese characters per minute, or it can be stipulated that inputting 15 ~ 20 Chinese characters per minute is the first level, 2 1 ~ 30 is the second level, and more than 30 are the third level.
(2) The introduction and explanation of knowledge content should be easy to read and understand, and it is easy to achieve the teaching objectives. If necessary, explanations, tips or reference materials should be given. For example, introducing the knowledge of Chinese character input method can explain a suitable input method for students in detail, but it also gives some other commonly used input methods and their comparative reference materials for students' reference.
(3) When introducing and explaining applied knowledge, we should give more examples, give examples, and give hints of multiple solutions or other solutions as much as possible to open up students' innovative ideas.
(4) In the teaching content related to culture and art, such as layout design, webpage production and multimedia works, information of a number of high-level works should be provided for students to find, appreciate and cultivate. On the one hand, it trains students' ability to find and collect information, on the other hand, it cultivates art, improves students' appreciation ability and inspires students' innovative spirit.
5] Strengthen interest. When it comes to fun, maybe the first thing that comes to mind is games. Games are really attractive to teenagers, and educational and instructive games can be provided appropriately in textbooks. Interest here mainly refers to writing style and content selection, such as adding some magazine contents such as tricks, gizmos and new discoveries. For example, when the operating system module introduces and explains "the basic concepts and operations of user interface", a "prompt" column can be set up to introduce the moving and changing methods of "taskbar" that are not mentioned in general teaching books, and students will feel fresh and interesting after the experiment.
[6] Supporting CD. Compared with general teaching materials, the teaching materials of open teaching of information technology courses provide more knowledge and information materials. Some information materials, such as multimedia works and programs, cannot be directly reflected in books and teaching materials, so a supporting CD should be attached.
Teaching media: For information technology courses, modern teaching media (computers and networks) are the objects for students to learn. In other words, learn media by media. Therefore, there are requirements for the function, quantity and quality of the media. Generally, the following requirements should be met:
Schools should have a campus network and be connected to it, and classrooms should have computers connected to the campus network; There are multimedia network classrooms and electronic reading rooms for students to use; There is a function of collaborative learning and discussion among students on the Internet.
(2) You can make full use of computers and network equipment in schools, families and society to ensure that each student has at least one hour of computer operation time every day.
⑶ It is better for schools to build their own websites, which have the functions of publishing works and transmitting information to students.