THE ROLE OF VIRTUAL WORLD IN EARLY SCIENCE EDUCATION

In the paper the process of implementation of compu ter animations and simulations within the early chemistry education and chemistry teachers tr aining is described. The research project focusing on the pre-graduate chemistry teacherstr aining in the field of ICT competences and on the learner's ability to use simulation or real exp eriment is presented. The main problem appears in the meaningful application of computer animation s and simulations in the phases of preparation, running and evaluation of the process of instruction. Authors provide crucial characteristics of both applications, learning acti vities suitable for implementation, quality criteria and didactic recommendations. The data wer e collected from the direct and indirect observation and the questionnaire, and they evoke d iscussions on problems of the virtual world, which is steadily been involved in everyday life of the developing society.