Use of information and communication technology and resources of the internet in education natural sciences

Abstract

One of the challenges of contemporary school is judicious media education, in which modern technologies support teacher’s work and prepare students to search for and create knowledge responsibly. The text focuses on the application of information-communication technology in Poland at various levels of education with a particular emphasis on preparing students for the teaching profession. The work characterises examples of the application of education cloud, mobile technologies, social network and distance learning platform in educating Jagiellonian University students as well as post-secondary school students.On the basis of statistical data concerning communication technology - access conditions and modes of use (computer, Internet, mobile phone) - as well as reports on digital equipment in Polish schools, the advancement in the use of electronic media devices, application software and Internet resources for educational purposes has been characterized. It was stated, among others, that in Poland 95 % learners between the ages of 7 and 17 own a computer but for the majority of them it is exclusively a tool for the Internet access, mainly to be able to use social networks (77 %). In Poland in 2013 10 % monitored educational institutions comprise schools equipped with modern equipment, 30 % units have outdated equipment and 29 % learners have their own virtual learning environment. There are four educational strategies described in the work. They are characterized by a diversified content and organisational attitude to new technologies as well as to Internet information resources (assimilation and reflection, emotional and empirical, observation and experiment, pragmatic and communicative. A model of transmedia activities, successfully introduced at Jagiellonian University, has been proposed. The activities deal with direct observations and measurements of natural phenomena along with an exploration of Internet information sources, including a multiplatform transmedia narrative film.