IT-based developing teaching as a new didactic paradigm

Abstract

The traditional reproductive teaching, as a didactic paradigm, has been a benchmark of modern schooling for centuries now. When it was introduced, it presented a revolutionary change in education and it was considered a monumental innovation. By establishing a grade-class system, Komensky determined the key principles for organising a teaching process in schools (grade, class duration, school year duration, teaching methods). Yet, no innovation is eternal. Over the course of years, what was considered benefits of the aforementioned paradigm turned into its major weaknesses. This could be described using a maxim stating that any technology that has reached its peak allows for new breakthroughs to appear as the latest one. A lot of innovations applied in order to remove and absorb the weaknesses of traditional teaching observed were useful, but these did not help reach beyond Komensky’s paradigm. Information technology has radically changed our understanding of the world and influenced all spheres of human enterprise in a revolutionary manner, including education, resulting in the emergence of a new didactic paradigm, the IT-based developing teaching. This paper analyses the weaknesses of traditional reproductive teaching and points to the advantages and features of IT-based developing teaching.