EDUCATION AND MODERN TECHNOLOGIES, THEIR POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IMPACT

Abstract

In recent years, the new technologies have revolutionised the teaching activity, both the face-to-face, and the on-line activity. The MOOC platforms (Massive Open Online Courses) offer free trainings (fully or partially), accessible on-line, to help users develop skills. The evolution of technology is undergoing a constant make-over and it affects the teaching - learning strategies all over the world. Given that we aimed at elaborating teaching strategies appropriate for the new generations of mobile-students, it was first necessary to identify the main characteristics of current students, from the perspective of their learning styles, expectations, and needs. Elearning platforms are especially addressed to the digital natives, but not only to them. The distinct feature of MOOCs resides in their size and area of operation. These platforms appeal to the new generations of students because they offer free courses (in most cases), no formal admission requirements (no age limit or study/profile restrictions), flexibility (on-line courses can be easily included in a busy working schedule, as they can be taken at any time, and at a pace established by the student), cooperation (during courses, relations are developed with other students/adults all over the world, thus offering them the opportunity to exchange ideas), and quality (the short material duration determines the Trainers to present clear, concise and impactful materials). These environments allow the students to display all their digital and spiritually creative skills, but also allow teachers to correctly manage the activity, both on-the-go, and at the end. In the second part, the paper offers only some of the results obtained during a research (given the limited space) coming to confirm these theoretical aspects, a research which was performed within the GEX project - EXCELIS Excelen?? ?n cariera didactic? pentru viitorii profesori debutan?i, a research funded by the POLITEHNICA University in Bucharest. The target group consisted of 112 students/respondents studying in 8 faculties (the Automatics and Computer Faculty , the Entrepreneurship, Business Engineering and Management Faculty, the Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics Faculty, the Technological System Engineering and Management Faculty, the Biotechnical System Engineering Faculty, the Electrical Engineering Faculty, the Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages, and the Applied Science Faculty).