Effective educational technologies are being constantly developed and implemented around the world owing to the efforts of scientists and teachers. What are their goals and philosophical meaning? Find out from the article below.

Purpose of modern technologies in education

The basis of modern education is a matter of socio-cultural and spiritual needs of people. The further development of the educational system should be carried out regarding to the interests of forming a creative personality as the leading factor in the economic and social progress of society. A logical response to the current situation is introduction of various innovations aimed at optimizing the quality of education.

Definition of the basic directions of innovative activity should proceed from those important functions which the educational system implements in the life of society and a comprehensive analysis of the current problems in this area.

Speaking of the functions of education, it should be noted that the educational system is one of the main institutions of socialization, formation of a harmoniously developed, socially active, creative personality and an important factor in the implementation of socio-economic and cultural goals.

In this regard, the ability of the educational system to react to the needs of society promptly and flexibly, taking into account the main trends of its development, is of paramount importance. The realization of this task can be achieved only based on new technologies and technical means.

Multimedia technologies in the educational process

It should be noted that students and their parents are primarily interested in obtaining the education that will help them to adjust to a rapidly changing world. The systematic use of multimedia has a significant impact on the development of the youth. The research of attention during lessons revealed high activity and curiosity of pupils. Based on the analysis of numerous scientists, teachers, psychologists, it was concluded that the use of multimedia allows to solve didactic questions with a great educational effect: it can become a means of increasing the effectiveness of studies, significantly shorten the time devoted to process educational materials, make it possible to substantially deepen and broaden the range of tasks under consideration.

The concept of technological innovations in education

In accordance with international standards, innovations are defined as new formations and ideas emerging on the basis of modern initiatives. They contribute to the evolution of education and positively affect its transformations.

The concept of “innovative activity” can be considered as a purposeful change of the training content, organizational and technological bases of the studies. It’s aimed at improving the quality of educational services, increasing the competitiveness of educational institutions and their graduates, and ensuring comprehensive personal and professional development of trainees.

Thus, innovation activity transforms the nature of education according to such parameters as target orientation, nature and content of interaction of the main subjects of the pedagogical process.

The following characteristics can be considered as the indicators of a new quality of education:

  • modern knowledge, the formation of the basic competencies of students, raising their personal development level;
  • absence of negative effects and consequences (overload, fatigue, health impairment, mental disorders, lack of educational motivation, etc.);
  • increase of teachers’ professional competence and their positive attitude to work;
  • growth of the prestige of the educational institution in society, expressed in the influx of students and teachers, etc.

Technology integration in education: main tendencies

Convergence of traditional full-time studies and online education, intensification of information flows are observed in modern society. This concerns Internet and network resources, electronic libraries and databases, forums, online conferences, computer models, simulators, networking tools to organize “virtual” teamwork, etc. Remote technologies allow everyone who are interested in obtaining knowledge broadcast by professors to participate in educational process regardless of any distances.

There is also a connection between science and professional activity. Open universities are one of the effective means to implement state programs of creating high-tech jobs. The advanced educational system allows to form highly qualified specialists and to engage them into the process of modernization of all production spheres.

In the process of training, students develop the skills to acquire knowledge independently, plan their educational activities, follow their tasks through, see things from different perspectives and make alternative decisions.

Online universities have become a great opportunity for people who combine education with full-time jobs. Office workers have no opportunity to attend classes on a regular basis, yet now they can read lectures, do homework at any time or buy argumentative essay on a special service on the Internet if they don’t have time to write it themselves. Such conditions allow to perform the assigned tasks always on time and to have the good marks.

However, it is worth mentioning that insufficient social and scientific validity of some changes might become a serious issue. Uncontrollable innovational processes, that have engulfed educational institutions, have triggered many problems, for example, the reduction of intellectual background.

Introduction of new forms of education without a fundamental change in its essence, the lack of a clear program of transformations lead to a popular belief that, in fact, sometimes we have the simulation of innovations, erroneous attempts to replace innovations with experimental work.