OBJECTIVES, TASKS, NEEDS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SYMPOSIUM

We live in "the century of knowledge", "educated society", "learning and knowledge society", "new information civilisation", "learning society", "audiovisual electronic civilisation", "networked society", "digital renaissance", with the application of "the intelligent technologies of education and intelligent learning environments", "multimedia technologies", information and communication technologies, new TV and video technologies, digital technologies, interactive learning technologies, etc.. We have to cope with all these technological innovations i.e. we have to learn how to use, apply and modernise them. This has been exactly the goal of our Symposium for almost 10 years, since we have been trying to motivate and encourage the workers in education to find their place in the above mentioned technologies and enable easier entry into an informatics society, i.e. knowledge and learning society.
Development, creation, dissemination and use of knowledge present the main issue for consideration of our Symposium, since knowledge has been recognised as an object of great economic, political and cultural value which confirms the quality of a society that creates, has and uses it.
Considering the issues that arise from knowledge and learning we are opening a panorama of future and anticipating what is to come and what the education system is aiming at. At the Symposium we should discuss, analyse and define ways, forms and methods of information usage and creation and application of knowledge which is now being transferred at an unimaginable speed over time and space among societies, cultures and generations. 
The creation of educational societies i.e. knowledge and learning societies is a primary task of every society, including our own. All societies were, in their own way, learning and knowledge societies, but knowledge was a privilege of particular individuals, and could not be accessed and used by everyone. The main method of its acquisition and use was secrecy. The Age of Enlightenment has defined and emphasised the main ideas of the progress. These are the ideas of universal possibilities of accessing knowledge, freedom in its usage and freedom in existence and living and equality in the possession and usage of knowledge. They present the basis of today’s idea of the creation of learning and knowledge society. Current technologies enable this idea and provide the basis for the existence of such a universal society i.e. informatics society.
It is believed that no one should be excluded from the educational society where knowledge is a common good accessible to everyone. This has been legally secured by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (articles 13, 19, 27) as well as by the simultaneous growth of global internet network, mobile telephony, digital technologies, telecommunications and computer science and informatics. In any case, we can conclude that technological progress, i.e. the emergence and development of technological innovations enable the creation and accelerated production of new knowledge, and this enables the development of creativity and further innovations for the welfare of present and future networked and global informatics society.
For these reasons and because of the need to improve the quality of educational process, we believe that it is necessary to:

1. Study, analyse and experiment with new information and communication technology.
2. Indicate, emphasise and explain to the teachers the possibilities and necessity of the application and usage of modern educational technology in our educational and learning process in order to prepare their students to live and work in the twenty-first century.
3. Study the role and importance of informatics and computing in the modernisation of our educational process and preparation for the future.

Since it is expected that the development of information and communication technologies will be a continuing process with increasing possibilities of their application and usage in the entire life and work of people, even in the educational process, this Symposium, as a final form of numerous researches in various fields of human activity, i.e. scientific fields, teaching practices, pedagogical and psychological disciplines, will provide our experts with an opportunity to present the results of their researches, to  inform the public about them and to indicate their possibilities in educational process with respect to the application methods and usage.
The international Symposium on technical, technological and IT education stems from the need to systematically and strategically determine the possible directions of technical, technological and IT education and to improve this area at global level in accordance with UNESCO’s efforts and with respect to the challenges and needs of living and working in the twenty-first century. Distinguished experts and competent teachers should assess the condition, problems and prospects of the development of technical, technological and IT education as well as the impact of technology and informatics on the educational process and living and working in this century.
During the realisation of this and future symposiums on this subject, with respect to the set objectives and tasks, it is necessary to do the following:

1. Consider and analyse the latest achievements in the field of modern information and communication educational technology and the possibilities of its application in the educational process
2. Explore the pedagogical and psychological basis of the application of information and communication technology in the educational process
3. Study the modern tendencies and psychological and pedagogical problems that occur or might occur in the application of educational IT in the educational process
4. Study and point out possible strategies (ways, method, forms) of the application of modern educational technology in educational process
5. Consider (in addition to pedagogical and psychological problems) the problems of modern educational technology application from the perspective of other sciences such as philosophy, sociology, informatics, economics, law, etc.
6. Inform the teachers, institutions and political bodies about the possibilities of educational technology in improving the educational process in Serbia
7. Call attention to the pedagogical problems of educational technology application within the framework of various educational systems
8. Examine and clarify the existing situation, practice and possibilities of using and applying information and communication technology
9. Explore how new technology helps in increasing the efficiency and quality of teaching and learning process
10. Examine the forms, methods and contents of teachers’ professional education and development for the usage of new IT and development of the software appropriate to them.
11. Critically analyse possible negative consequences of information and communication technology application in educational process (virtual and direct learning, unification and disappearance of cultures and languages, folklore, oral legends, traditions, existing values, ways of thinking of different nations, etc.)
12. Study the ways of enabling students to select and estimate the true values of the information they receive from various sources of knowledge
13. Initiate the formulation of national plans and platforms in the application and expansion of IT in our educational system.

 

THEMATIC FIELDS

Bearing in mind the purpose of the Symposium, as well as its characteristics, objectives, tasks and role – the following thematic areas will be discussed:

1. The programs and methods of education, teachers’ training and development in the field of technical, technological and informatics education
2. Innovations, adaptations, concepts and ways of realisation of the curricula of technological and informatics education at all education levels
3. Financial conditions and possibilities of realising the tasks and objectives of technological and informatics education
4. The possibilities of scientific research on the application and use of IT
5. International experience in this field in relation to the method of application and use of new technology in the educational process
6. The possibilities of connecting the contents of technological and informatics education with the contents of other subjects

 

PROBLEMS (ISSUES) WHICH WILL BE DISCUSSED AT THE SYMPOSIUM

Since the Symposium has a permanent significance it is organized every second year according to the needs and opportunities. Therefore, the following topics (issues) should necessarily be examined, analysed and presented:

• Technical, technological and informatics education in the 21st century (role, position, significance, contents, development, current trends, necessity, adaptability)
• Teachers’ training and development for the adequate application and usage of modern educational IT
• Definition and realization methods of technical, informatics and technological subjects (curriculum, strategies, goals, contents, implementation and development policy, pedagogical and psychological reasons, new learning theories and teaching forms, etc.)
• New roles (functions, responsibilities, realisation means) of the teachers, created and conditioned by the emergence and development of modern educational technology
• Directions, ways, possibilities and methods of the computerisation of our educational system
• Significance and possibilities of IT literacy of teachers, students and other educational workers
• Development, usage and connection of informational-educational networks into a unique comprehensive educational system (network)
• New theories and forms of learning, conditioned and enabled by the development of educational IT
• Position and role of students in new forms of learning and teaching, conditioned by the application, implementation and development of modern educational IT
• Computerisation of education as the essence and characteristic of new millennium
• Possible ways of modernisation and improvement of educational process
• Methods and forms of the development of students’ creativity with the application of computer technology
• Our capabilities of entering the societies of learning and knowledge (the state and volume of using modern educational technology and technics at our schools and faculties)
• Methods and forms of acquiring computer literacy
• Review of the current use of IT in our educational system
• The role and significance of the "Internet" in educational process
• The extent to which computer technology can manage, control and evaluate student learning
• The role and significance of educational software in the implementation of modern teaching processes
• The situation in Serbia regarding the creation and use of educational software
• Development and possibilities of new sources of knowledge (library, mediatheque, phonotheque, electronic books, digital technology, etc.)
• Pedagogical, psychological, sociological, philosophical and technical bases and aspects of the application of modern educational technology
• Experience and practice of developed countries in the application of IT in education
• The role of state authorities in the area of education, in support, use, application and purchase of modern IT in schools
• Positive/negative examples of the practice regarding the application of modern IT in educational process
• Recommendations and suggestions regarding more efficient application of educational technology in schools
• Methods, forms, experiences and directions of informatics education in Serbia
• Educational and scientific research in computer science
• Informatics studies (problems, plans and programs)
• Informatics staff (planning, education, professional development)
• New concepts of technical and technological education
• Media education (role, significance, possibilities in Serbia)
• Possibilities and significance of the application of "virtual reality" in teaching process
• Information and communication technology and the development of international cooperation
• Computerisation as a hallmark of civilisation of the 21st century and its for education
• Computerisation of education – possible aspects
• Information systems of education
• Teaching and learning in informatics society
• The teaching of IT subjects
• Informatics resources in education
• Educational software
• Multimedia IT services in education
• Computer networks and education
• Computer training for teachers
• Methodology of teaching and learning in the informatics environment
• Online technologies, compact disks, electronic publications and the Internet in libraries
• Electronic libraries and electronic resources
• Automated library systems and IT
• IT support in education and information society
• Corporate library and information systems and corporate technologies
• Ethics and security of electronic information
• Information society
• Libraries, cooperation and joint ventures in the world
• National information, infrastructure and global information infrastructure
• Information transfer and technology
• Publishing in the Digital Age
• Knowledge Management and information economy
• Intellectual property and copyrights
• Information, security and ethics
• IT standards
• Education, distance learning, etc.

The participants can submit their papers on the above mentioned areas. However, the above mentioned areas are only general suggestions of possible research topics which means that the authors can study the problems of modern educational technology and the application of information and communication educational technology from other perspectives and thus broaden the area of our research and the contents of the Symposium
We greatly appreciate your participation and cooperation and we expect it to continue to our mutual satisfaction and benefit.

Program organising committee	Technical Faculty Dean
Prof. Dragan Golubovic Prof. Mirceta Danilovic Prof. Slobodan Popov	Prof. Jeroslav Zivanic