USING INFORMATION AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES TO STUDY CHEMISTRY
In the modern world, university teachers need to use local and global computer networks in theireveryday and professional activities. Information culture of a teacher-to-be becomes a part of his/her general pedagogical culture. In the context of modernization, the quality of teacher education should be measured by the person’s competence, which is not a certain amount of knowledge or skills but the ability to mobilize his/her knowledge and experience in a particular situation. Professionalism of a teacher includes various competences, including the computer one. University teachers have to form a system of cognitive and professional motives encouraging one to use the obtained knowledge. The modern system of higher education is aimed at developing students’ ability to work with information. Introduction of information technologies into the education process greatly contributes to efficient teaching. Distance learning plays an important role in the modernization of education. With regard to the new education standards, our Department of General and Analytical Chemistry has developed an electronic teaching module in chemistry for first-year students of all specialities and placed it on Sakai platform. This software platform makes teachers improve their teaching methods, stimulates students’ cognitive activity and contributes to better learning. Using an electronic module that helps to fill their knowledge gaps without punishing them with bad marks for wrong answers, students experience positive emotions.