On the Basic Features of Modern Education and the Deep Connotation of Educational Informatization

The education in a modern society or a society in its modernization process is not always leading the edge. The features of modern education should be inquired within the educational practices.Taken the thinking framework of people, conceptions, resources and tools, and activities, the authors believe that modern education must have the following four features:(1) modern education is an information-processing and data-driven professional activity that requires educational rationality;(2) modern education is leaded by professional educator who are both rational and passionate, who have educational ideal and take historical facts into consideration, and who have deep understanding of disciplinary and huma nistic aptitude;(3)the core of modern education is educational systems that are able to evolve and learning environments that are based on knowledge products and adaptable to multiple requirements;(4) modern education relies on special professional knowledge and tools. Therefore, if taking educational Informatization as a form of current educational modernization, educational informatization does not only mean wide-range applications of IT. Its deep connotation is, using the framework of plan-act-reflect, to transform empirical educational routines into information-processing and data-driven professional practices that concentrate on the creation and maintenance of educational systems. The most important in accomplishing such educational informatization is not to use new information technology, but to construct new educational theory. This new theory combines the theories in educational technology and educational science. This new theory is an independent discipline that has its identical perspectives on describing,explaining, and intervening educational practices. Without such educational theory, current educational practices have no ability to step into the age of big data. Before the emerging of educology,if current educational theory cannot reveal the operating mechanism of our educational system, our current educational practices have no ability to step into the age of big data, and will continue having an affinity with the totalitarian culture in education.