What a new textbook should be like: Modern requirements for school textbooks on informatics
TL;DR
The key requirements for a modern informatics textbook are: integration of modern technologies (AI, big data, cybersecurity), practical orientation, interdisciplinary approach, and teacher participation in the development of educational materials, and teacher participation in the development of educational materials.
Abstract
The article defines the requirements for a modern informatics textbook in the context of the rapid development of information technologies and changing educational standards, and substantiates possible concepts for developing such a textbook. A focused analysis of the development of the informatics course, existing textbooks (by L. L. Bosova and A. Yu. Bosova, K. Yu. Polyakov and E. A. Eremin, N. V. Matveeva, T. A. Rudchenko and A. L. Semenov, et al.), the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards, and expert opinions allowed us to formulate the key requirements for a modern textbook and identify areas for its development, the most important of which are: integration of modern technologies (AI, big data, cybersecurity), practical orientation, interdisciplinary approach, and teacher participation in the development of educational materials. The article describes the content of a modern informatics course according to the Federal State Educational Standard for Secondary General Education, which includes eight content areas. Approaches to developing new-generation textbooks are proposed, including 1) a classic textbook with a hierarchical structure, 2) a blended learning textbook with interactive elements, and 3) an electronic textbook adapted to individual student needs. The article presents methodological strategies for textbook development: 1) one based on a mental approach, which takes into account students’ cognitive characteristics, knowledge visualization, and the development of mental structures (mental images, diagrams, and models); 2) and one based on an inversion approach, which prescribes a change from the traditional "theory → tasks → questions" structure to a "questions → tasks → theory" format, thereby reducing the learner’s cognitive load. The article will be useful for methodologists, informatics teachers, developers of educational materials, and anyone interested in modernizing school education in informatics.