From the very cover of the informatics textbook for secondary schools it is already clear that the textbook is outdated. “Even the cover of the textbook depicts Internet Explorer, which Microsoft removed from exploitation in 2015. It means that as soon as pupils look at the book, they face an outdated vintage,” says the media expert Samvel Martirosyan.
He mentions that informatics is the only subject that sometimes pupils know better than the teacher. By the time the textbook printing process ends, the material already becomes obsolete. In the 21st century when every child has a phone or a tablet connected to the internet, the idea of an informatics textbook is already senseless. Hasmik Ayvazyan, a teacher of informatics with long-term experience of interaction with pupils, agrees that information in the textbook is obsolete. Following the curriculum, they leave the world behind.
“The curriculum of the informatics at schools was established 12 years ago when a school with several computers was considered to be technically well-armed. The textbook tender took place six years ago. By the way, only one book was submitted to the competition,” says the co-author of the textbook Seyran Avetisyan. He thinks that the textbook material must be regularly updated.
The National Institute of Education is aware of the issues. New project is being developed which is going to be submitted to the Parliament. They are assuring that all concerns are taken into account. They are planning to finish the case till the end of the year. “We have included cloud technologies, web tools, smart attachments in order children learn with pleasure,” says Ruzanna Stepanyan, Head of Informatics and IT Department of the National Institute of Education.
“No matter how the Ministry hurries, it will not be able to reach the technology development pace,” says Samvel Martirosyan. He can see only one way: pupils should learn informatics through video materials.