Strategic issues regarding informatics in education

Abstract

In education, neither the future needs nor the innovations required, can be predicted. However, this does not mean that the alternative to planning (based on uncertainty) is day-to-day reaction to technological changes in informatics. The impact of informatics on the organization of education can be planned by “backward calculation and forward action”; i.e. specifying the future stance required, calculating backwards from this position to the present day identifying the steps needed, and then planning each step in turn. Educational institutions have a two-fold obligation to develop the principle of “backward calculation and forward action”: an obligation to adapt informatics to educational requirements, and an obligation to train people to use informatics to satisfy their own needs.