HOW TO CREATE AND HOW TO USE DIDACTIC EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE

The article summarizes the long-term experiences of the author in the field of creation, usage and evaluation of didactic computer applications in education. In this article, there are systematized principles of creation and effective usage of didactic software. Special attention is paid to visualized controllable interactive simulation model and simulation experiments oriented to acquisition of new knowledge based on the own observations of the learner. The author summarizes recommendations regarding the graphic design and the interactivity of the didactic simulation models for learning. The preparation of recommendations and advice on how to build and use educational application was based on the pedagogical and psychological knowledge about the learning process. It takes into account how an individual receives and processes new information - how he/she builds his knowledge system. It is also important to set up the questions and tasks correctly, therefore they can be answered or solved by implementing simulation experiments. Knowledge system of the learner is not a static storage of isolated information and information units in his/her memory, but their transformation into active knowledge which is integrated and ordered to a system – connected into logical hyper structures and forms. The actual knowledge system enables an individual to solve non-standard problems not only in science, technology and various research areas from which the necessary, suitable and useable knowledge system is built but also in everyday life. If a person wants to design and implement educational software to support learning, he/she must respect the rules of creating and building a knowledge system and the pedagogical, psychological and didactic rules and principles of learning.