New Paradigm of Education and Problems of Forming Information Culture

Gendina N.I.

Russia, Kemerovo,
Kemerovo State Academy of Arts and Culture

Awareness of the crisis in education has determined the question on changing the paradigm and model of education. Innovative paradigm of education having come as a change to the paradigm of "supporting" or "enlightening" education is characterized by orientation to the developing individual; transition from the reproductive model to a productive one; humanistic, active contexts; idea of the life-long learning experience or continuing professional education.

In these conditions educational institutions have as a calling and a duty to form a learning habit, ability to find information and extract the message. That's why, much attention and particular emphasis is laid on the organizing information education and the enhancing information culture of a person and society and separate groups of users. Moreover, the forming information culture should be specially organized and goal-oriented process, presupposing teaching different categories of users special knowledge and abilities. Achieving this aim is possible while establishing and teaching a special course "Information Culture Foundations" under several conditions: the contents of the course is integrative; aims and tasks of the course are user-differentiated; education is goal-oriented and practical; tutors providing training have a special education and make necessary manuals available.

These conditions are basic in the conception of information culture forming which has been formulated as a many-year research in Kemerovo State Academy of Arts and Culture. During the process of research Russian and foreign experience was investigated and generalized as it is concerning the promotion of information culture of the society. This let to work out the principles and modal of the academic course program "Information Culture Foundations"; to create and establish as an academic discipline this program into the curricula of different Kemerovo educational institutions intended to different categories of users: schoolchildren, students, teachers, lecturers; to determine perspectives.

As the basis of the integrative course "Information Culture Foundations" serves synthesized achievements of other disciplines (informatics, librarianship, bibliography, applied linguistics, logics, text stylistics, applied psychology, reading culture etc.}. It is also based on the idea of activity approach and modular scheme.

The success of this course depends on the professional staff which will teach this course at the educational institutions, and on wideness and quality of methodical provision. The special training on the base of knowledge of age psychology and techniques of teaching may give a positive result. So the Kemerovo Institute of Arts and Culture plans to introduce a new specialization "teacher of information culture foundation" on the base of the specialty "librarian-bibliographer of higher qualification".

The independent task which should be solved the Academy constitutes the preparation of practical methodical materials supporting this course. These should be a theoretical manual including topics and modules; practical manual including tests, exercises, games etc. for the benefit of practical abilities; means of computer study; means of control the level of mastering the knowledge by the students.