How to understand the development and trend of technical secondary education in 2 1 century?

"Throughout history, most scholars have shown a characteristic: ignoring reality and the future", which is the favorite sentence of Sikonik, director of the American Future Society.

Generally speaking, scholars believe that collecting, studying and spreading ancient culture can show profound knowledge and skills. Therefore, traditional education, especially humanities education, always focuses on the past, while school education focuses on the interpretation and deduction of thousands of years of civilization, ignoring the surrounding world and the future direction of reality.

Rapid and amazing changes have shocked today's society, which forces teachers in the classroom to avoid the fact that all cultural knowledge from ancient times to the present may be outdated before export; Those difficult ancient books that need a set of explanations (notes), and those obscure mathematical problems that may never be used after school, are wasting the lives and enthusiasm of young people. Facing the pressure of the future, students have the right to acquire the means and concepts to survive in historical changes. You also need to know the real picture of various future societies, and you need to make people feel that you can cope with the situation. The starting point is the school. Therefore, a brand-new future-oriented course and its related teaching practice came into being. It aims to help students face and adapt to the future. The aim is to teach students in accordance with their aptitude on changing issues.

From 65438 to 0966, with the help of toffler, Priscilla Griffiths and other teachers opened the earliest futurology course in American middle schools for the children of Kennedy Space Center technicians. This unprecedented attempt, its method and innovation have important enlightenment significance for people who are engaged in similar work all over the world today.

According to a syllabus brought by toffler, the futurology course contains 15 units, and each unit has a recommended bibliography. These reading materials range from the magazine article The World of 1984 to non-fiction books (arthur clarke's Image of the Future), novels (book review by Edward Bellamy) and contemporary science novels (William Tann). When the course is finalized, its units are as follows: 1. Introduction to futurology; 2. predict the future; 3. War and violence; 4. Race relations; 5. Work and leisure; 6. People and machines; 7. intelligence; 8. communication; 9. Control thoughts; 10. Tomorrow's politics; 1 1. population; 12. Urbanization; 13. Genetics; 14. Average life; What is a person?

These units are taught sequentially, and according to toffler's suggestion, many related teaching games and simulation activities are combined. For example, one of the unique "simulations" is to let each student take turns to live in some families outside his own family for a period of time, starting from one month and gradually decreasing until one day. The idea is to let students experience and learn how to live a wandering life, which may be a quite common phenomenon in the future: frequent changes in address, family and friendship. Students participating in the simulation must learn how to quickly adjust their feelings for different types of people and adapt quickly in the intimate environment of family life. After fully discussing the basic reading materials and other exercises such as games and simulations with different contents, this course was named "2 1 century" to show that it is not an ordinary and regular school course.

What should be taught in the course of "2 1 century"? Kaufman, an American scholar, put forward the following six points in his book The Future of Education:

1. Access to and use of information: including libraries and reference books, computer databases, relevant information of enterprises and government agencies, etc.

2. Cultivate clear thinking, including distinguishing semantics, logic, mathematics, computer programming, prediction methods and creative thinking.

3. Effective communication: public speaking, body language, grammar, vocabulary, painting, photography, production, graphic drawing, etc.

4. Understand people's living environment: physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology and geography, biology and ecology, race and heredity, evolution, demography, etc.

5. Understand people and society: human evolution, physiology, linguistics, cultural anthropology, social psychology, ethnology, law, ever-changing professional forms, human existence and so on.

6. Personal ability: physical charm and balance, survival training and self-defense, safety, nutrition, health and sex education, consumption and personal finance, best learning methods and strategies, mnemonics, self-motivation and self-cognition.

Kaufman's courses are very extensive, but they are complete educational contents. Undoubtedly, the setting of these courses pays more attention to people's role and position in society and their adaptability to the future. It fully shows that only with a future-oriented vision can the chaotic curriculum in schools be transformed into a broad curriculum, and the dual needs of social development and human development in the 2/kloc-0 century can be truly met.

Dole of the University of Louisiana believes that we are moving from Newtonian modernism to post-modernism. Newton's modern "knowledge view" regards knowledge as an objective reflection of reality, a closed, stable and meaningful system, which can be studied from the outside. Later, modern knowledge view regards knowledge as an explanation of a dynamic and open self-regulating system, in which researchers are not external, but internal.

Under the influence of the new knowledge view, the curriculum view has also changed accordingly. Curriculum is a process of development, not just a carrier of a specific knowledge system. The course content is not fixed, and it is constantly enriched and improved in the process of exploring new knowledge, and finally forms a complete content. Here, the content and process are unified. Content is no longer characterized by information, but is contained in the connection between the background and meaning of information. The process is not only characterized by "method", but also content-oriented, constantly expanding the relationship between content. Curriculum is a process in which teachers and students participate in exploring knowledge together. Teachers no longer fully control the organization and development of courses as spokesmen of knowledge authority, but appear as instructors and coordinators. Students are no longer passive recipients of knowledge, but active participants in curriculum development, and their perception and experience are brought into the emerging curriculum system. Attach importance to students' personal exploration and experience. The process of curriculum development is open and flexible. The course objectives are no longer completely predetermined, but can be constantly adjusted according to the actual situation in the process of inquiry. The organization of curriculum is no longer limited to the boundaries of disciplines, but develops in the direction of interdisciplinary and comprehensive. From emphasizing the accumulation of knowledge to discovering and creating knowledge. Recognize and respect the diversity of people's viewpoints and values, do not control the curriculum with authoritative viewpoints and concepts, and strive to seek consistency or understanding in the process of collision and integration of various viewpoints and concepts.

The opening of "2 1 century curriculum" in the United States has aroused great interest from teachers and students. At Carnegie Hughes College in upstate New York, Duran, a professor of history, guides students to start with the attitude of the head of state towards the future and look forward to the political pattern and social trend of the future world. Meiere Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia has set up a course of "Planning the Future" to familiarize students with the possible future development and the career choices they will encounter. Yarbrough, a geography professor at Pennsylvania State University, creatively opened the course "Future Geography". Other new courses such as "sociology of the future" and "Future Science and Technology" are refreshing.

A group of social scientists, teachers, writers and psychologists who are committed to teaching reform in the United States have conducted extensive consultations on the principles of curriculum design in the 2 1 century through seminars and other informal gatherings, which can be summarized as the following basic principles: 1. Textbooks to help students adapt to society; 2. Help students understand their own textbooks; 3. Help minors understand the teaching materials for investing in the future; 4. Teaching materials that help students understand the nature and direction of social change and its role orientation in the process of change; 5. Help students turn classroom learning into teaching materials for future responsibilities.

"2 1 century curriculum" has no content in the traditional sense of education and research, and its forms are various. Teachers and researchers judge students' achievements and abilities according to the quality of their participation in study and work, not their memory, because there is no need to remember; Not according to what he knows, because there is no fixed need to know; On the contrary, we must respect and improve students' imagination and ideological quality: that is, the methods and procedures for designing and creating learning content, and the standards on which he analyzes and evaluates the created content. For example, students are required to prepare a timetable for the possible future stages they want to predict: graduation, employment, marriage, retirement and death, as well as their close relatives, parents, spouses and children, and list the basis for future revision and control. For another example, ask students to evaluate some expressions, point out which are possible futures, which are approximate futures and which are desirable futures, and list the basis: 1 There is life on the planet; 2. Humans will be able to live forever; 3. Everyone is absolutely equal; 4. Eliminate national boundaries; 5. Be able to understand everyone's thoughts.

"265438+20th Century Curriculum" guides students to explore a big field that traditional education rarely touches, such as game theory, decision-making under uncertain conditions, value analysis, content analysis, cybernetics and so on. The theme of "2 1 century curriculum" has different forms in educational reform in various countries, but it is essentially * * *. Generally speaking, future scholars like the method of "learning by doing". For example, Xie Nei, a professor at Indiana University in the United States, put forward the idea of super-curriculum in his book The Definition of Future Education, which is a kind of "work curriculum" still under the management of the school, introducing students into real social practice from junior high school, stimulating their enthusiasm and willingness to work, and returning to school to expand their future after "going to work" for a period of time. The common users of "classroom planning" and "learning games" focus on introducing many extracurricular reading materials into teaching materials to stimulate students' imagination, supplemented by future research methods, such as trend prediction and interactive equilibrium analysis, to help students innovate and make bold assumptions. Teachers no longer teach students the pre-organized knowledge system as the authority of knowledge, but carry out the process of exploring knowledge with students. Students no longer passively obey teachers' instructions as recipients of knowledge, but have a direct dialogue with the objective world with their own interests, needs and opinions, and enjoy the curriculum development activities of understanding reality under the guidance of teachers. Therefore, the course content is no longer regarded as an absolutely objective and stable knowledge system, and the course objectives are no longer completely preset. Curriculum becomes the development process for teachers and students to explore new knowledge together. * * Through a series of learning activities, compare various viewpoints on reality, including students' own explanations, teachers' explanations, common sense explanations and scholars' explanations, so as to urge students to face inconsistent opinions, thus forming a new explanation of reality in the collision and integration of various viewpoints, which usually leads to creative discoveries. The purpose of letting students face differences and contradictions is not to replace students' own explanation of the world with some "scientific" point of view, nor is it just to expose students to new ways of thinking, so as to understand and reflect on their own meaning system. More importantly, we should guide students to explore the advantages and limitations of various ways of thinking, broaden their horizons and deepen their ideological efforts, so as to form an appropriate new understanding based on * * * *.

The offering of "2 1 century course" is basically to help students establish the image of the future, position their future roles and promote the concept that "the future determines the present", instead of inheriting the past with the present. The future image in our mind has a great influence on what we are doing at present. If a young man only wants to be a manual worker, then his future image will determine today's learning motivation, and his learning scope will also have a strong selectivity. Successful future education will make students feel that they are moving towards an ideal world, in which they have an expected and meaningful role.

Based on this, since the 1990s, many countries have been rethinking the curriculum and teaching materials of primary and secondary schools, forming a kind of * * * knowledge around the world: the compilation of curriculum and teaching materials oriented to the 2 1 century should be based on reality and focus on the future; There should be a unified national standard; Attention should be paid to the cultivation of students' creativity; The combination of integrity and diversified teaching should be emphasized. Among many curriculum design schemes in various countries, the "206 1" plan in the United States is quite unique: it is funded by the National Science Foundation of the United States, aiming at the quality that the American people should have when Comet Halley approaches the earth again in 20061year, and starting from the development trend of knowledge in various disciplines, it organizes hundreds of experts and scholars in various disciplines to study the basic concepts and comprehensive abilities that primary and secondary school students should master. This plan has both long-term goals and short-term actions, which has attracted the attention of the global education community and the world.

It can be predicted that the educational reform in various countries with the theme of "2 1 century curriculum" will break through all the stereotypes of traditional teaching and expand the classroom indefinitely; Teachers will also develop from traditional preaching, teaching and solving doubts into assistants for students to enter the future society, and finally lay the foundation for students' future role preparation, and actively and healthily work towards the great goal of building a better and more reasonable future.

Second, multimedia teaching technology

Multimedia technology is the most striking technology today, and it is the basis for managing and processing all kinds of information in the 2/kloc-0 century. In the past, computers could only handle the "text" of a single medium, that is, words, numbers and the most graphics, which gave people a monotonous, boring and boring feeling. "Multimedia technology" refers to the interactive comprehensive processing of words, graphics, images, sounds and other information by computers, so that they are logically linked and integrated into a system. Using multimedia technology to flip electronic "books" and touch any position on the screen with your hands can reveal interesting plots: reaching into the sky, an airplane will pass through the clouds; Touch a big tree and a flock of birds will fly out from the leaves. Watch TV series. If you are not satisfied with the plot, you can change the plot and let the actors perform according to your meaning. Learn the pronunciation of English words. If your pronunciation is correct, the computer will give you encouragement. If you read it wrong, a voice will remind you and tell you how to improve it.

With the development of multimedia technology, a brand-new modern education form-multimedia computer network teaching system has emerged. It is a computer network composed of servers, teachers' hosts and students' workstations. The teacher controls every terminal of the whole network through the teacher's host, and has an interactive dialogue with the students. The students receive the teacher's guidance to study in front of the students' computers. In multimedia teaching, students are the main body of learning, and information feedback is student-centered.

Multimedia computer network teaching has many outstanding advantages. It can carry out illustrated multimedia teaching, replace language classrooms for more vivid language teaching, and provide a good teaching environment by using a large number of ready-made teaching software, which can not be achieved by any previous teaching means. Multimedia computer network teaching can not only teach in a single class on campus, but also be easily connected with large external networks, which provides a foundation for a wider range of network interactive learning. It shows us the prospect of unlimited expansion.

Because multimedia technology provides a very natural way of learning and communication between people and computers, it can form an operating environment for human-computer interaction and mutual communication, as well as an immersive feeling. Users (including children) only need to touch the computer screen by hand, so it is widely introduced into the field of education and will have a far-reaching impact on the teaching of the whole 2 1 century. Carry out a revolution in traditional education.

Multimedia technology will bring great changes to teaching materials. Teaching materials are no longer just printed books, but electronic teaching materials integrating words, sounds and pictures, such as CD-ROM, CD-I (interactive cd-rom) and DVI (Interactive Digital Video), which will effectively stimulate students' interest in learning and double the learning efficiency. 2,500 primary schools in Texas, USA, adopted the CD-ROM data company's Windows of Science CD-ROM, and all primary school courses related to natural science were compiled on 1 1 interactive laser recording CD-ROM. Classes using this video disc have been tested for basic skills according to national standards, and their academic performance has generally improved 100%-200%. The experimental results of applying multimedia technology in classroom mathematics teaching in the United States show that students' mathematics scores have improved by an average level. In addition, most of the textbooks of Rensselaer College applying multimedia technology are being sold to other universities in China as multimedia products. These redesigned disciplines include: computer, physics, chemistry, calculus, science, electromechanical, material science, biology, anthropology, communication, and a management course called "designing and creating learning environment".

Multimedia technology will make teaching forms more vivid and teaching methods more diversified. For example, using multimedia technology to teach the course of gravity acceleration in physics, recording the process of students throwing the ball with video tape, and directly digitizing the video signal of the video tape into the computer, students analyze the movement with online homework, and draw computer graphics to explain the change of the ball relative to time. All these teaching contents can be completed in two hours, and the students will be impressed. In the classroom where the performance venue is located in the center of the audience seat, the teaching equipment is obviously different from usual, and the long lecture notes teaching is replaced by a "central theater" environment. Professors give lectures, guide and organize discussions in the center of the classroom. Students can turn their chairs or turn their backs to their workstations. From the vantage point of the center, the professor can see the screens of all workstations and the operation process of students. Teachers can also take measures to modify the content of teaching materials, change teaching plans and improve teaching according to the teaching needs and the learning situation of each student fed back by computer. The computer will also guide them in a targeted way, correct their mistakes in learning in a controlled way and put forward suggestions for improvement, which truly embodies personalized teaching.

Multimedia technology supports different learning methods, changes passive acceptance of information into active acceptance of information, and stimulates students' creativity. Multimedia technology can link related information according to the associative thinking of human brain for students to browse. Students can choose and process the information they need by inputting various instructions, which can encourage students to take the initiative to explore and discover learning, instead of passively obtaining knowledge from teachers as in the past.

The emergence of multimedia computer network teaching system has produced a new teaching form and a new teaching art, which requires teachers to know their own professional knowledge, be familiar with computer knowledge, be able to control computer software, and sometimes write some application software themselves. This provides a new world for teachers to display their teaching talents.

Multimedia computers can be transmitted over a long distance through networking, which can better realize distance education. Students in remote areas can also hear and see the lectures of famous scientists and teachers in big cities, and are not restricted by the courses prescribed by radio or TV stations; You can also discuss and communicate with others through the internet and get information from all over the world. Multimedia technology may make education change from school education to family education, and continuing education may go to family completely. It is estimated that after the information superhighway is completed, students' study time will be reduced by 40% compared with the same situation. What you have learned will increase by 30% and the funds will be saved by 30%.

When President Clinton announced his plan to connect all schools by the end of this century, he said that world-class education began with computers. In the century of education and communication revolution, education depends on computers. Vice President Al Gore also called on the telecommunications industry to reduce costs and connect all schools to the Internet. The U.S. Secretary of Education estimates that it will cost 654.38+00 billion dollars to popularize computers in schools. Montgomery county, Alabama has invested $500 million to connect every classroom in every school in the county with the computer network, and public schools in the District of Columbia plan to invest $654.38+0 billion to complete the same project. From 65438 to 0994, Americans spent $8 billion on computers, the same proportion as TV sets. Families with an annual income of more than $75,000 have at least one computer, and their children are the first beneficiaries of multimedia technology at home.

It can be predicted that with the improvement of communication technology and computer technology, in the near future, the application scope and degree of multimedia technology in the field of education will become more and more extensive and indispensable.

According to incomplete statistics, there are about 2.5 million kinds of computer equipment used in classroom teaching in the United States. Whether in the training of reading, writing, arithmetic and other basic skills, or in the study of physics, chemistry, biology or music courses, it has brought great convenience and help to the majority of American primary and secondary school students.

Students no longer have to bury themselves in the library all day. The bold move of the University of California to cancel the library building is an example, which represents today's development direction. Northwest University Library has started a project to run an "electronic lending system". A librarian will provide you with all kinds of pictures, handouts and exams over the years. The waiter is a computer, which is connected to the school computer network. At present, many schools are trying to realize the digitalization of library resources.

As students and teachers use e-mail more and more, the traditional concept of office hours is gradually disappearing. Teachers at school give homework to students by email.

Nowadays, students live in the world of computer network. In fact, students can complete knowledge learning in the classroom without even stepping into the university gate. Television teaching or distance education has been applied to continuing education and teaching in remote areas for over 10 years. With the progress of science and technology and the development of Internet, computer network teaching will become the mainstream of development.

1At the 5th World Conference on Computer Education (WCCE/90) held in Sydney in July, 1990 and the academic conference of American Association for Educational Research held in New Orleans in April, 1994, people noticed that more and more computer education research reports focused on how to cultivate students' ability, the characteristics of learning process and the changes of learning strategies under the learning environment provided by multimedia technology. Computer-centered multimedia technology also provides more choices for personalized teaching. In a word, the development of cognitive learning theory and the process of teaching reform have injected vitality into the new development of multimedia teaching. On the contrary, technological progress, especially the development of multimedia technology, provides material conditions for the training and research of advanced cognitive skills, thus promoting the development of cognitive learning theory.

Using multimedia technology and interactive network, modern education curriculum has undergone qualitative changes;

1. Diversified courses. It is convenient to exchange the curriculum plans of different countries for students to choose, and liberal arts students can choose engineering easily, and vice versa.

2. Curriculum integration. There may be many new intersections between existing disciplines, such as historical oceanography and archaeological informatics. At present, the "computer dream of red mansions" in China's educational circles is a typical long-span comprehensive study of computer intervention in the study of A Dream of Red Mansions.

3. Course software, including examination software, makes the course design more scientific and accurate. World-class experts can gather on the interactive network. They are not only scientific authorities, but also experts in educational psychology and physiology. They are familiar with scientific logic, understand the development trend of contemporary disciplines and grasp the growing point of disciplines. This group of experts get together to carry out some specialized or thematic courses, which is undoubtedly much stronger than the closed curriculum design of small-scale peasant economy, and the software they develop can be used for students to choose to study at any time.

4. The course is modular. Interactive network may create a strange knowledge structure, which, like building blocks, produces many novel functions. Of course, this course also depends on the students' own knowledge structure.

5. Modularization of courses. The word "Chunk" is borrowed from building accessories, which are assembled to form a building. Curriculum module is the classification of curriculum software, which is assembled by students themselves. Of course, how to choose collocation is not an easy task. With the development of multimedia teaching technology, modern courses have distinct characteristics of the times and practical value.