SLEZSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OPAVĚ
Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta v Opavě
BAKALÁŘSKÁ PRÁCE
Opava 2021 Luboš Pardus
SLEZSKÁ UNIVERZITA V OPAVĚ
Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta v Opavě
Luboš Pardus
Obor: Angličtina pro školskou praxi
Distance learning for ESL learners at higher secondary Czech
school
Bakalářská práce
Opava 2021 Vedoucí bakalářské práce:
Mgr. Marie Machničová
Prohlášení
Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto bakalářskou práci vypracoval pod vedením vedoucího bakalářské práce
samostatně a uvedl jsem všechny použité prameny a literaturu.
Opava 2021 …………………….
podpis
Poděkování
Chtěl bych poděkovat Mgr. Marii Machničové, která dohlížela na mou bakalářskou práci,
za její vedení a trpělivost. Oceňuji její cenné rady, její komentáře k této práci a její laskavou
pomoc. V neposlední řadě musím poděkovat celé své rodině a přátelům za trpělivost a morální
podporu.
Aknowledgement
I would like to thank Mgr. Marie Machničová, who supervised my bachelor thesis, for her
guidance and patience. I appreciate her valuable advice, her comments on this work and her
kind help. Last but not least, I must thank my whole family and friends for their patience and
moral support.
ABSTRACT
This thesis deals with distance learning in English lessons at secondary school, its pros and cons
during the pandemic when all schools were closed. The aim of this work is to find out activities
used by teachers, forms of communication between all participants, and evaluation of students´
work. Theoretical part presents three intertwining forms: 'e', blended and distance learning and
teaching, their most frequently mentioned pros and cons. It was examined how teachers
perceive the didactic use of ICT in their subject, its structure and presentation in the form of
hypohesis and research questions. For this purpose there was a survey conducted where the
results were analyzed and presented using charts and tables. The experiences,
teachers´recommendations and useful online links are given at the end of the thesis, which could
be used in the normal or even blended school running in the future.
Keywords: distance learning, e-learning, blended learning, communication, learner, teacher
ABSTRAKT
Tato práce se zabývá distanční výukou angličtiny na vybrané střední škole v Pardubicích, jejími
plusy a mínusy v průběhu pandemie v době uzavření všech škol. Cílem práce je zjistit aktivity
využívané učiteli, formy komunikace mezi všemi účastníky a hodnocení práce studentů.
Teoretická část prezentuje tři prolínající se formy: ‘e’, kombinované a distanční učení a
vyučování, jejich nejčastěji zmiňované výhody a nevýhody. Formou hypotéz a výzkumných
otázek bylo prozkoumáno, jak učitelé vnímají didaktické využití ICT ve svém předmětu, jeho
strukturu a prezentaci. Za tímto účelem bylo provedeno dotazníkové šetření, jehož výsledky
byly analyzovány a znázorněny pomocí grafů a tabulek. Na konci práce jsou uvedeny
zkušenosti a doporučení učitelů a užitečné online odkazy, které by mohly být v budoucnu
použity při běžném nebo i kombinovaném provozu škol.
Klíčová slova: distance learning, e-learning, blended learning, komunikace, žák, učitel
Contents Introduction
List of Abbreviations
List of Charts
List of Tables
Introduction
1 From paper to digital; from face-to-face to distance education ................................... 1
1.1 The brief history overview of distance learning ................................................... 1
1.2 Education for the new e-society ........................................................................... 2
1.2.1 General trends in education........................................................................... 3
1.2.2 General concerns ........................................................................................... 5
1.2.3 The future of schools according to World Economic Forum (WEF) ........... 6
1.2.4 The future of schools according to Strategy 2030+ ...................................... 6
1.2.5 Summary of the situation .............................................................................. 7
2 Definitions of the terms – forms of multimedia learning ............................................ 9
2.1 E-learning (EL) .................................................................................................... 9
2.1.1 Advantages of E-learning............................................................................ 10
2.1.2 Disadvantages of E-learning ....................................................................... 10
2.1.3 Summary of E-learning pros and cons ........................................................ 11
2.2 Blended learning (BL) ........................................................................................ 11
2.3 Distance learning (DL) ....................................................................................... 12
2.4 Summary of the situation ................................................................................... 13
3 Activities and skills in DL ......................................................................................... 15
3.1 Intrinsic motivaton and games ........................................................................... 16
3.1.1 Motivation to complete tasks ...................................................................... 17
3.2 Psychological view on learning process ............................................................. 18
3.3 The situation of learning psychology in the Czech Republic ............................. 19
4 Research ..................................................................................................................... 20
4.1 Methodology and the aim of the research .......................................................... 20
4.2 Questionnaire survey .......................................................................................... 21
4.3 Data collection and analysis ............................................................................... 22
4.4 Data from Teachers ............................................................................................ 23
4.5 Data from Learners ............................................................................................. 29
4.6 Activities in DL .................................................................................................. 32
4.6.1 Activities – international E-meetings .......................................................... 34
4.7 Mental hygiene ................................................................................................... 41
4.8 Research summary and recommendation ........................................................... 41
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 44
Bibliography
List of Appendixes
List of Abbreviations
LMS - learning management system
ICT - information and communiction technology
DVPP - další vzdělávání pedagogických pracovníků (further education of pedagogical
staff)
MOOC - massive open online courses
T.1 - representative teacher of English
EL - E-learning
BL - Blended learning
DL - Distance learning
ML - Mobile learning
Apps - Applications
List of Charts
Chart 1: Number of respondents among students
Chart 2: Learners´s motivation / demotivation about DL
Chart 3: Satisfaction / dissatisfaction of the current situation
List of Tables
Table 1: Comparison of platforms Zoom and MS Teams
Table 2: Synchronous and asynchronous activities practising English language
Table 3: Names of schools and main topics of E-meetings
Introduction
The world is a very different place in 2020 than it was till this strange year. Education has
just reached crucial moment all over the world at the start of a new decade. No one could have
foreseen the unprecedented events of 2020. We are facing a Covid-19 pandemic in the time of
writing this thesis, a reality that has shaken and disrupted all “normal” behavior at the level of
individuals and groups, institutions and countries. This global health pandemic affects everyone,
and is having a huge impact not only on our health, but also on how we teach, learn and do research.
We begin a new decade at a point of genuine and unprecedented crack. It is a time where we have
to question – where we are going, how we are planning the journey, and even if we are able to
move.
This crisis has shown us that we are able to share our ideas and our knowledge, work
together and quicky adapt to the new situation. Exactly how the new hegemons and movers of the
world want and demand of us. However, this requires a higher level of shared ambition and
involment. Czech education system advanced with reforms. This in itself is a remarkable
achievement. Nevertheless, the process was certainly not easy and is still ongoing. Learners,
teachers and education institutions may still face obstacles in their work together. Whatever the
success and failures have been, education system as the whole must naturally face the common
critical reflection.
Learning and teaching is partnership, which means both groups, learners and teachers,
participate in the process of transferring and gaining new information. The aim of this work is to
focus on distance learning at secondary school during Covid-19 pandemic, when all school
institutions were closed. Thesis describes specific methods of learning and teaching via internet –
mainly online, the effectiveness of activities during these processes, pros and cons, what tools and
activities might teachers choose and how to use them effectively in the language system Use of
English.
Thesis is devided into a theoretical and practical part and a total of 4 chapters.
First chapter briefly discuss the history of distance learning, description of the situation in
the today´s digital society, the general trends and concerns, view to the future through the eyes of
non-profit organization WEF and MŠMT Czech Republic.
Second chapter defines the basic definitions of terms, which correspond to different types
of learning and teaching on a distance. The content of this chapter is also a selection of frequently
mentioned pros and cons of E-learning based on the study of available literature.
The third chapter is about activities and skills during distance learning, psychological view
on learning process, and how intrinsic motivation and games can influence the learning process.
The research and its individual phases are in the fourth chapter, as well as its overall
summary and evaluation. Chapter is finished by formulating the conclusions that were reached on
the basis of studies and surveys among teachers and students at the selected Secondary School.
Emphasis is placed on teachers´advice and recommendations for the future, which would help
teachers, but also students to solve study tasks and successfully complete this exceptional school
year.
It is supposed this work will be able to serve as a source of inspiration not only for supporters
of integrating ICT into teaching and learning foreign languages, but also for its critics.
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THEORETICAL PART
1 From paper to digital; from face-to-face to distance education
There are plenty of benefits of going paperless in schools, from saving time and money, to
saving the environment and enhancing digital literacy. Using less paper is a win for students and
teachers, as well as the wider school community and the whole environment (Brad, C., 2018).
Learning from a distance continues to gain popularity. Teaching and learning are no longer
limited to the classroom or the school day. There are many technologies (mainly internet and its
tools) that can offer a great deal of flexibility in when, where, and how education is distributed.
However, they are not appropriate for all learning and training situations. Face-to-face method of
teaching has its own advantages and hopefully will not be eliminated totally.
1.1 The brief history overview of distance learning
The history of distance education as a new educational opportunity has its roots in various
systems of correspondnce study, which appeared as early as the middle of the nineteenth century in
England and France, later in Germany and Austria-Hungary, and in the early twentieth century also
in the USA. Today, the largest providers of distance education are the British Open University, the
Spanish open university UNED, German FernUniversität, and of course universities from Japan
and USA.
Since the launch of the ICDE (International Council for Distance Education), founded in
1982, the so-called Budapest Platform has been established as a platform for cooperation and
development of distance education in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This platform
was the basis for the establishment of the pan-European organization EDEN (European Distance
Education Network), which was founded at a conference in Prague in 1991. With this conference,
it is also possible to begin the history of distance education in the Czech Republic (Palán,
Andromedia).
From lectures sent via phonograph, letters, TV and radio broadcast, to degrees delivered in
the digital age, its evolution and its reach is staggering. A more detailed graphic scheme of the
historical development of distance education is given in the Appendix 3.
The distance form of study in the Czech Republic is currenly implemented not only on two
levels as it has been so far (university studies and lifelong learning courses), but also at primary and
secondary schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic and closed schools during the year 2020 and part
of the year 2021.
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1.2 Education for the new e-society
We live in a modern information and knowledge society, in a world reffered to as the
„eSociety“ (network society). High level complexicity is based on close interlinking. The impact
of the changes resulting from opportunities opened up by telecommunication may be compared to
the world-shattering changes which occured many years ago, with the transformation from an oral
culture to a written one (e-Society, 2021). The fact that we live in a mobile world may be yesterday´s
news. Here are a few statistics from the website Statista about the use of mobile devices that might
still surprise and impress:
• At the time of writing, there are around 10.85 billion mobile phones and tablets
(mobile connections) in use around the world. In other words, there are around 3
billion mobile devices on the planet more than people.
• Almost 70% of the world´s population owns a mobile device (around 5.3 billion
people)
• More than 100 countries have more mobile phones in use than the population of that
country.
• The number of mobile devices in use is currently growing five times faster than the
global population.
• Adults look at their device on average once every six minutes.
• More than 14% of the current world population (more than 1 billion) doesn’t have
access to electricity – resulting in the fact they couldn’t even charge one if they owned
it.
Statista.com predicts that by 2023 this number of mobile device users will increase to 7.33
billion, and the number of mobile devices operating worldwide is expected to reach 17.72 billion
by 2024.
As these statistics show, mobile devices are considered a necessity for most of us today. We
use them for communication, to view and create media such as photos and videos, and even to settle
arguments by quickly searching for the answer on the web. So why they were not used more as part
of everyday teaching? And why is it that many educational institutions ban the use of mobile
devices? Despite their potential, mobile devices often present a dilemma for teachers. On one hand,
we can see how integral they are to everyday life, and recognize that they are powerful multimedia
tools which can really improve our educational tools. On the other hand, we are frequently faced
with media scare stories about the possible downsides of using devices in education and a general
reluctance of educational establishment to allow their use.
Either way, many teachers are already more or less familiar with the term E-learning today,
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which refers to the use of electronic devices such as computers, smartphones and the internet to
assist education. Learning takes place outside the school classroom, with students and teachers
accessing a website. With the increasing use of mobile devices, we are now also using the term
mobile learning or m-learning, that means learning through the use of mobile devices. The
advantage of m-learning is that it has the ability to bring real life into the class. Most teachers have
turned to technology to improve their lessons. Typical mobile devices – smartphones and tablets
can be everything from a camera to an audio recorder, a word processor and a video-editing suite.
They have easy-to-use operating systems based on touch, gesture and voice, making them simpler
to use than other forms of technology (resource Statista).
Cell Phone usage worldwide, by country: Czech Republic – rank 46, total population 10.5
million, smartphone users 7.1 million, smartphone penetration 67.6%. First in ranking is China,
India and USA, last is Switzerland and Nigeria (resource Bankmycell).
1.2.1 General trends in education
According to Grimus from Austria, almost ten years ago she writes in this spirit: The internet
and computer as universal media are currently being used in all schools and in their subjects, but
above all as a word processing application and for science and professional subjects. Internet and
computer assistance make teaching and learning process more effective and transparent, and they
frequently enable the development of new learning strategies thanks to the opportunities they offer
for simulation and visualization and the integration of topical examples into the learning process.
It has influenced the content of a lesson – new vocabulary items, neologisms, activities in which
students practice composing several presentations, videos, etc., are more and more integral parts. It
has also shaped the way we teach. Without doubt, in these days, in this age any teacher needs to be
internet aware. The internet increasingly dominates students´ lives. Internet has been changing the
ways in which English can be taught and how it is changing the language itself. If we can use a text,
projector, video, CD, etc., why not choose to include the internet into a lesson simlpy for variety?
It can be used as a part of face-to-face language lesson, as a stimulus for a self-study activity or as
a means of communication between distance users. The internet is also a valuable source of
materials, as it allows teachers and learners to find a useful or relevant text from practically any
area of knowledge. For many learners such authentic materials can be truly motivating (Grimus,
2003).
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The following Internet (ICT) functions are used for learning purposes:
• Collection of information
• Entertainment
• Educational games
• Simulation
• E-communication
• E-cooperation
• Production (presentation)
This list bellow indicates various areas for the use of computers:
• In learning with several programs and applications, the computer does not take on the role
of an information facilitator, nor of a learning medium. Rather the computer provides a tool
that enables learners to focus more closely on problems, to clearly illustrate them and to
find creative ways to solve them.
• Programs to facilitate comprehension: databases, simulation, games, micro worlds and
modeling.
• Internet (world wide web) for the collection of information, construction of knowledge
through selection and evaluation, and representation of knowledge.
• Communication (e-mail, skype, facebook, chat, webinar, forum, podcast) and cooperation.
• Learning and administration programs (e.g. tutorial systems – such as Moodle or Bakaláři,
drill and practice programs).
• Learning platforms (learning with online media – such as Zoom, MS Teams, Google Meet,
etc.).
Already in 2003 Grimus writes: “Nowdays, media literacy is seen as the fruit of self-study
efforts which have been acquired, and as a key competence – requires pedagogical support and is
thus firmly anchored in the syllabus” (Grimus, 2003).
“The COVID-19 pandemic has seen rapid progress in switching to digital learning and
teaching. There will undoubtedly be many lessons to learn from the experience over the past few
months, but it is clear that a big step forward has been taken and even when a full return to normality
is possible, the use of digital technologies will no doubt continue and intensify. The wave of
progress in using digital technologies was forced upon us by the pandemic. In the future, however,
there will be choices to make and questions of cultural adaptation to address. For example, what
5
will be the appropriate role for digital technologies? How should the human learning and teaching
environment relate to the digital environment? How can digital technologies support education?”
This article is from the latest Bologna Process Implementation Report from 2020.
1.2.2 General concerns
As Evan Williams, a co-founder of Twitter, recently put in, “Convenience decides
everything…Convenience seems to make our decisions for us, trumping what we like to imagine
are our true preferences.” What online education offered on top of the programs was primarily
convenience, the convenience of easy learning. Do we clearly realize its impact on the learner and
education in general?, ask Sistek-Chandler and Cynthia Mary in their book Exploring online
learning through synchronous and asynchronous instructional methods. We already have
convenience stores and convenience food but unable to cook – now we are moving fast towards
convenience education (Sistek-Chandler, Cynthia, 2019). Here are the other words from Bill Gates:
the vision is that “people should have the ultimate in convenience. Being able to get the things they
care about on the appropriate device. Young people are attracted to convenience and expediency
provided by today’s technologies. Students choose convenience over hard work of learning” (Gates,
2019). One can think today, that the lure of comfort and an easy way of going about life now
arguably causes more problems than it solves (Sistek-Chandler, Cynthia, 2019).
Hogenova deals in her book with a philosophical concept of ‘time’ from historical context.
She concludes her book with these words: “We miss a deeper education, we miss an understanding
of the ontological basis of our common world, we are drowning in ways how to control the world
mathematically, how to control it constantly, and to control these controls. We want to have
everything pre-ordered, including ourselves, so nations are useless, because the only thing that is
important is ‘growth of Growth’. That´s how we want to live” (2011, p. 198). The author often
mentions and quotes personalities, including visionaries, such as the German philosopher Leibniz.
Among other things, Leibniz is known for his statement “Entrust me with education and I will
change the shape of Europe” (thesis author translation). From the book we can read further words
“…suddenly we find that it is not enough to work honestly, because the evaluation of our work will
always be subject to what will be ordered from the given elite and political force. One will stop
believing in justice. Everything will be made to order, football matches, political events, education,
our joys and sorrows. We are starting to lose ourselves”. This book and the words selected from it
were deliberately chosen because it is believed that they are closely related to the assigned topic
and today´s situation in society. In order for the reader – to form his/her opinion on the fact that it
is necessary to look at certain situations in context, to ask what and why is happening around us,
why we have to live in certain conditions and situation that someone determines for us. Why we
6
have to deal with DL at primary and secondary schools today as well as with massive digitalization
and robotization?
For today´s, modern visionaries, philanthropists and movers of the world, we can mention,
for example, well known names such as Gates, Bezos, Musk, Branson and others who have
interesting speeches, for instance on the TEDx or TED Talks platform for those who want to know
more and in advance what way the world will take in the coming years and how closely these issues
are related with education at schools and beyond.
This and following subchapters seek to highlight possible pitfalls, predictions and visions
for the future not only of education.
1.2.3 The future of schools according to World Economic Forum (WEF)
This chapter tries to follow the previous one with aim to present information which concerns
the so-called vision of organizing the work and social environment in the world until 2030. The text
in the World Economic Forum Report describes what the school of the future should look like,
preparing pupils for existence in the so called 4.0 industrial era.
The last report from January 12, 2021 is called – ‘Schools of the future, with its subtitle
Defining new models of education for the fourth industrial revolution’.
The fact that the WEF likes to talk about the 4th Industrial Revolution is quite
understandable in its focus on the economy. Report also describes the qualities that innovative
schools (in the era of Education 4.0) should have, in two separated areas - learning objectives (4
objectives) and activities (4 activities).
Finally, the WEF report summarizes the need and efforts that should be made to update the
school education system to meet the future needs of pupils. “There is an urgent need to update
education systems to equip children with the skills to navigate the future of work and the future of
societies. The Education 4.0 framework provides a vision for how school systems can be updated
to deliver on children’s future needs. This transformation calls for shifts in learning content to
include both the technical and human-centric skills needed to build growing and inclusive
economies and societies and shifts in learning experiences that more closely mirror the future of
work” (World Economic Forum 2020, 2030Vision).
1.2.4 The future of schools according to Strategy 2030+
MŠMT ČR (The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic) also
worked on the same concept, in the same spirit, prepared a document entitled Strategy 2030+. It is
a document of the educational policy of the Czech Republic until 2030+ and was approved on
October 19, 2020 by the Government of the Czech Republic. It is a key document for the
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development of the educational system of the Czech Republic in the decade 2020 - 2030+. The aim
is to modernize the Czech educational system in the field of regional education, hobby and non-
formal education and lifelong learning, prepare it for new challenges and at the same time solve the
problems that persist in Czech education. The task of the Strategy 2030+ is to set the direction of
education development and investment priorities for the next ten years (MŠMT, Strategie 2030+).
Document contains two strategic objectives:
• Focus education more on acquiring the competencies needed for active civic,
professional and personal life.
• Reduce inequalities in access to quality education and enable the maximal
development of the potential of children, pupils and students.
Document further contains five strategic lines:
• Changing of the content, methods and evaluation of education
• Equal access to quality education
• Support for dedagogical staff
• Increasing professional capacity, trust and mutual cooperation
• Increasing funding and ensuring its stability
The cornerstones of the 2030+ Strategy have been laid, every experience, support and help
will be good.
1.2.5 Summary of the situation
From above mentioned we can try to predict, derive and ask other questions. We can also
try to ask from the perspective of today’s schools and our researched secondary vocational school.
And what about inability to use the simple things of everyday life? We can use complicated things.
We are quite experts at computers and electronics, and complex laboratory equipment. Why do we
have trouble with water faucets, to replace the bulb, light switches, make a fire in the stove or pitch
a tent? How come we can work and fix a very expensive complex computer installation, but not
our washing machine, gas boiler or child´s toy? The real culprit is – impractibility, no-skills,
constant development and changes, robotization. And millions of people feel themselves to be
mechanically inept. It is time for change. Really is? In which way? How many times have we
already asked ourselves this question? Each period of time and each generation strugless with
something new.
When we as teachers have to ask our learners today to try out English in reading, listening,
speaking or writing by computers or mobile devices, we are asking them to take a degree of risk
8
and experimentation. In these days we need to adopt the same approach to ‘e’ and ‘m’-learning.
Trying new things, experimenting with apps, using the technology ourselves is the best way to gain
the confidnece and skills required to successfully integrate whether ‘e’ or ‘m’-learning into our
lessons. Mobile devices as educational tools can help to break down boundaries, in our case, the
walls of the classroom. Students (individuals born in the new millennium) are very familiar with
mobile technology and have a strong attachment to their own devices, which they use on daily basis
to perform a range of functions. For instance, students may enjoy taking photos and have a large
collection of photos that teachers can use for several tasks and as a good stimulus for speaking.
They can also record their own and other speeches, share them with others or send them to the
teacher. Mobile technologies can be used to improve 21st century skills. These skills (creativity,
critical thinking, communication, collaboration, digital literacy), can all be developed in student-
centred, dynamic and motivating ways.
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2 Definitions of the terms – forms of multimedia learning
This chapter introduces the reader with the initial terminology and information related to the
general concept of E-learning. First, the genereal definitions of the individual forms will be
described, advantages and disadvantages of EL and on the end an overall view of the situation.
2.1 E-learning (EL)
E-learning (further only EL) - is one of the successfully used didactic elements and technical
means that are used to support distance education, the so-called guided self-study, in which learners
and teachers are physically separated for most of the study process. It is one of the forms of
multimedia support, and there is an endless amount of definitions of this term that has evolved over
time, just as technologies and approaches to them are still evolving. For an overview, I give a few
concepts of this definition.
Zounek in his publication states that a key topic in the field of EL in his conception is
teaching and learning, which is not limited by traditional educational institutions (2016, p. 34). He
adds: “In our view, e-learning includes both theory and research, as well as any educational process
with varying degree of intentionality in which digital technologies are used. The way in which
digital technology (ICT) tools are used and the availability of teaching materials depend mainly on
educational goals and content, character of the educational environment, ethical principles, needs
and possibilities of all actors in the educational process” (2016, p. 34-35).
Reimannová in her book encounters a strong terminological inconsistency (2011, p. 14),
where she very detailed describes the definitions of other experts on this issue, such as Barešová,
Horton, 2003; Bureš a Olševicová, Eger, 2004; Mechlová, Šeďová, Švaříček, Bednaříková,
Zlámalová, Kopecký, Svatoš, Pavlíková, Černochová, Demunter, Masie, 2006; Vališová, 2007 and
many others. (A relatively large number of publications on this topic appeared on the Czech scene
in the years 2005 to 2007, when schools introduced EL to a greater extent, mainly due to enthusiasm
for the potential of modern technologies.) Reimannová aptly uses Bertrand's quotations (2011, p.
16). If we analyze the word e-learning from a linguistic point of view, then the term 'e' includes all
information and communication technologies in a very broad sense as “everything that our activities
can rely on, whatever it is tools, devices, aids, machines, procedures, methods or a program obtained
through the systematic application of scientific knowledge in order to solve practical problems”
(Bertrand, 1998, p. 89).
Čapek comments EL as: “E-learning education is implemented by using IT, usually using
the Internet (whatever it´s name is: elearning, e-learning, eLearning, E-learning, Elearning or Web-
10
based training or webinar). EL is advantageous for several reasons and also has its many negatives.
The authors of various publications on this issue agree that the most significant negative feature of
EL is the lack of a living teacher (or tutor, coach, instructor) and the associated impossibility of
rapid feedback, psychological reaction (whether in the context of praise, gesture, humorous
responses or inducing a suitable atmosphere and so on)” (2015, p. 190). More about his and other
authors´views of advantages and disadvantages shown in the next chapter.
Everyone looks at his/her interpretation with his/her own eyes. The definition of EL
therefore varies according to the authors' focus, either on the side of the emphasis on the
technological side of EL or on the pedagogically and didactically oriented concept.
2.1.1 Advantages of E-learning
The term E-learning (EL) mentioned here and in the whole thesis describes our given
situation and main topic, that is distance learning (DL). None of the authors defines the advantages
and disadvantages of distance learning as such.
Some pros and cons according to Čapek (2015, p. 190-192):
Čapek, just like other authors, puts the word flexibility first (tailor-made for anyone, with
anyone, from anywhere, any time). Continues with expressions such as accessibility (user's time
possibilities); lower costs (technical, personnel, and other financial); greater possibility of
knowledge testing (students have the opportunity safely test their knowledge after completing
individual educational steps, the results are evaluated by software application); higher level of
interactivity (information is not provided in text form only); minimizing stress during final tests
(contact with other people, more relaxed during testing); increasing knowledge of information
technology (EL as such is supported and supports the latest information and communication
technologies).
2.1.2 Disadvantages of E-learning
Also another mentioned authors in this thesis often include the same following
disadvantages as Čapek does:
Dependence on technology (users need to have permanent access to certain hardware and
software) – (author perceives this is as an inevitable requirement rather than a disadvantage); not
suitable for each subject and for certain types of students; voluntary principle (everyone's own
motivation and self-discipline is important); lack of interactivity (EL provides a much less
interactive method of education than traditional education, is impersonal, brings to education often
a sense of futility and isolation, which includes oversaturation with electronic messages, lack of
human communication and physical contact, lack of inspiration and immediate response, unclear
11
or ambiguous system instructions and technical problems, and these aspects hinder effective
education and demotivate users); negative impact on health status of users (we have to spend a lot
of time sitting at the computer and staring at the monitor, which has a negative effect on human
health, such as problems with the spine, visual impairment, but also general mental overload);
significant delays between messages (email communication, discussion forums and similar
asynchronous services, which have a negative effect on the speed of agreement and this can lead to
frustration of learner (another side) who is waiting for an answer (2015, p. 190-192).
2.1.3 Summary of E-learning pros and cons
Zounek presents pros and cons of EL as a topic for reflection, he goes deeper in this direction,
presents a very well-structured overview of pros and cons divided into several categories, which
simultaneously represent several views on the possibilities and limits of EL. He allows to each
reader to find his/her own point of view or think about alternatives in the relevant school and also
out-of-school sector. Among others, he emphasizes, that “considerations of possible gains and
losses in the implementation of EL should be carried out sufficiently in advance and effectively in
a certain pedagogical situation” (2016, p. 230). And adds, “…in some cases, it is also clear that no
technology can replace the specifics and benefits of full-time teaching, training, practice or direct
experience” (2016, p. 231). His words seem to be more than actual today.
Furthermore, Zounek draws attention to the issue of taking over other people's experience
in connection with the assessment and implementation of EL in a specific situation. He recommends
being very careful when studying foreign books, which relate this issue of advantages and
disadvantages to one's own (educational and cultural) tradition and also to the geographical (we
would also mention today – and also to the pandemic) situation. In huge countries such as the USA,
Canada or Australia, but also Japan, distance education has a long and well-established tradition.
The benefits clearly resulting from them may not be completely relevant in our country, or could
lead to wrong judgments and conclusions (2016, p. 231).
The speed and overall effectiveness of communication can also be affected by the fact how
the communicating sides know and trust each other. Mutual respect and trust between learners and
teachers should be cultivated. Zounek uses the word ‘spying’ by the teacher, or a certain loss of
privacy.
2.2 Blended learning (BL)
Zounek´s definition is “a combination of online and traditional teaching” (2016, p. 38).
Again, he in his work lists other authors who deal in detail with considerations about BL (further
only BL), such as: Battezzati, Eger, 2004; Bialawski, Metcalf, 2005; Graham, Kopecký, 2006;
12
Littlejohn, Pegler, 2007. BL as a concept has been around for over twenty years. However, with the
rise of digital transformation, the concept has evolved.
Briefly and aptly states the definition Graham: “Blended learning systems combine face-to-
face instruction with computer-mediated instruction” (2006, p. 5). According to Graham the term
BL or so-called hybrid courses can be understood in a broader sense as the use of various media,
methods, strategies and procedures in teaching or in a narrower sense as a mixture of elements of
direct / contact / (full-time) teaching with elements of computer and network mediated indirect /
contactless / distributed (distance) teaching (2006, p. 4). BL can therefore be translated as mixed
education, in which full-time forms and methods of teaching are combined or perhaps rather
intertwined with EL or elements of distance education.
Graham shows and predicts in his sketch that we will face majority of blended systems in
the future (2006, p. 6).
From this information and claims we can draw conclusions. EL has had an interesting impact
on the learning environment. Although it represents tremendous potential in the way it could
revolutionize learning and development, it has rapidly evolved into concept of BL which, like its
name suggests, blends online learning with traditional methods of learning and development. BL is
part of the ongoing evolution of two typical learning environments. On the one hand, we have the
traditional face-to-face learning environment that has been around for centuries. On the other hand,
we have distributed learning environments that have begun to grow and expand in exponential ways
as new technologies have expand the possibilities for distributed communication and interaction.
From mentioned above, we can dare to say that the story of BL will never be finished – like
all learning journeys it is a continual process of discovery.
2.3 Distance learning (DL)
Maněna in his publication states, that the basis is self-study and specially processed content
of study (in printed or electronic form). The content of the study is not always made up of classic
textbooks, scripts, handouts, but it is a methodicall material (mostly today it is a quality multimedia
material – video tutorials, audio recordings, internet links), which allows students to understand the
curriculum without daily contact with the teacher. Their study is conditioned by a certain plan,
which they should fulfill through self-study with the support of an educational organization (LMS,
such as for example Bakaláři or Moodle). Students' performance is continuously monitored (e.g. by
means of tasks or tests), a teacher-tutor is available to students. Self-study forms the basis, but can
be supplemented as needed by contact – full-time teaching (meeting with a tutor), which can be
mandatory or optional. The number of meetings (tutorials) depends on the content of the curriculum
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and the level of students (2015, p. 27). Communication between teachers and students takes place,
for example, by Email, Chat, Skype, ICQ, Facebook. But only having a computer and software does
not necessarily mean being technologically literate and ready for everything. Learning how to
incorporate virtual reality games, webcams, video conferencing and platforms such as Zoom, MS
Teams, Twitter, Instagram, Google G Suite, Chat Rooms, YouTube and others is encouraged.
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English from 1995, term distance
learning means “a method of study, that involves watching television programmes and sending
work to teachers per mail instead of going to a school” (1995, p. 395).
When we talk about the combined form (‘kombinovaná forma’) of study in the Czech
context, it is exclusively university form, formerly also used the term ‘correspondence course’
(“dálková forma studia” or “dálkové studium”). This means that the student is in direct contact
with the teacher, but to a lesser extent than in the full-time form. As an example I can mention my
study of English at the university, where in the full-time form the given subject has a range of XX
hours (e.g. 2 hours a week for 13 weeks) and in the combined form it is XX hours (e.g. 2 meetings
with the teacher) with the support of an EL course / Moodle LMS, where various study materials,
handouts, assignments and so on are concentrated. Some fields of study can only be studied in
present form, some can be studied in combined form as well, as the second possibility.
2.4 Summary of the situation
According to the above mentioned, we cannot therefore clearly claim that there are generally
valid advantages or disadvantages of EL. On the contrary, it can be very disadvantageous
mechanically take over patterns that work in a different context, in another country (Zounek, 2016,
p. 231).
In the Czech Republic, the situation was very specific in spring 2020, all primary and
secondary schools, also families were not prepared for government-mandated and regulated
distance learning. All the participants were thrown into the water.
Most of the authors include EL as the fundamental advantage almost unlimited access to
information, knowledge or education. In connection with mass digitalization - the rapid
development of computer networks, especially the internet and mobile technologies, MOOCs, it is
not surprising. However, learners can sometimes feel lost in the vast amount of data and information
that might be sometimes not quite clear or disordered on the internet.
With the introduction of EL, the style of communication changes, the roles of teachers and
pupils change, the view of evaluation changes, analysis of pupils' needs appear, lesson plans and
teaching goals are created to attract and engage students in the activity as never before. The speed
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and overall effectiveness of communication can be affected by the fact in what way the
communicating sides know and trust each other.
While Čapek describes pros and cons rather as such a guru, a protector of learners, who
looks at the EL process from their position, on the other hand Zounek acquaints the reader with
three perspectives – from the learner, teacher and from the provider (institution) side and at the
same time his facts are based on examples of research findings from 2010. Zounek devotes a total
of 17 pages (230 – 247) to the chapter ‘Positives and negatives of the use of digital technologies in
education’.
Generally, there are many ways in which EL can develop above mentioned 21st century
skills. It´s particularly suited to:
• Project work (learners can work anywhere and collaborate online outside the
classroom, they can research information on the internet, can work together to create
magazines, dictionaries, e-books, videos, then use their mobile devices to present
their ideas online or in person).
• Learning to deal with a wealth of information and deciding what is correct and what
isn´t helps learners to develop their critical thinking skills.
• Through choosing effective search terms, evaluating materials, they learn making
decissions, how to adapt, process and use the information they find, determine how
useful they are.
• Connection through messaging – learners can chat, ask questions, discuss ideas,
share their media work via website application such as photos, during a lesson.
(Genenal popular apps are WhatsApp, Skype, Kik, Facebook, Messenger, Twitter,
Instagram, Viber, Snapchat and others.)
• Ability to evaluate information and socially engage with it (skills needed on both an
individual and social level to deal with digital tools – known as digital literacy, using
audio, video, images, etc. to create something new).
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3 Activities and skills in DL
The introduction of technologies in a foreign language can be used primarily to develop
digital competence, to support creativity and flexibility of teaching. In today's pandemic, there is a
huge amount of applications, activities, online platforms or online learning environments.
Problematic are requirements for time and preparation, efficiency, context and level of use.
For example, proven eTwinning projects can be used to save time. Representative teacher 1 has
experience from an international eTwinning course with such projects in Lithuania 4 years ago.
And tries to apply her experience in the current distance learning. (This topic is further described
in the chapter 4.6.1 Activities – international E-meetings.)
The choice of applications and activities depends on the digital possibilities, ie on the
content of teaching, the possibilities of the teacher and the needs of the pupils. So what can be well
used. There are applications / platforms that allow students to be tested directly at any stage during
a video conference. For example, the Kahoot! is very widespread and popular at schools, same case
is our monitored school. (Among other things, this application had its place in teaching even before
the transition to distance learning.)
Kahoot!
Isabella Vick describes this application in great detail in her webinar called EDU webinar
Kahoot! for distance leraning. Kahoot is suitable, for example, for creating tests for grammar, mastering vocabulary or for
repeating the certain points of a new topic. Kahoot not only offers fun gamification of learning, but
can also be used as a tool to evaluate students and measure their progress. Teachers and learners
can use pre-made games or create their own Kahoots.
It is worth noting that the free available version of Kahoot offers fewer options. There is a
quiz creation available, but the option of streaming (online lessons) this tool offers only in a paid
extension. The great thing is that now in the period of DL, these possibilities have been made
available to everyone, even those who don´t pay extra benefits. At the same time, it is possible to
perform a huge database of quizzes and tests from other users, for free. (Conditions for the
availability of full versions of various applications may have changed during the year, as have
government regulations.) Materials are searched according to language, subject, type of user (pupil
/ teacher / regular user).
So what specific benefits and gadgets to teaching does Kahoot offer? Thanks to this
application, any content interpretation can be interspersed with different activities. Content
interpretation can work in much the same way as when using a PowerPoint presentation in regular
16
classes. Images, maps, graphs, links, videos and text can be inserted into individual Kahoot slides.
The main advantage is that the interpretation can be complemented by interactive tasks. It
is possible to insert quiz questions, open, yes-no, comparisons, etc. into Kahoot. Compared to
classic presentations, this bonus brings a number of advantages, keeps the attention of all students,
and provides the teacher feedback about attention and the level of knowledge. The evaluation and
statistical success of learners can always be downloaded in an Excel spreadsheet after completion.
Not only the percentage of learners´ success is shown, but also the questions that made a problem
to the learners.
Kahoot slides can be used in a video conference as a stream - broadcast live lesson. (If the
teacher doesn´t want to meet the learners at a certain lesson, s/he can send / share the link as a
challenge. Learners go through the presentation independently, complete the tasks and the teacher
can later evaluate their success.) An undeniable benefit is also that this application is attractive for
students and is very popular among them. Another concrete practical online activities and
applications will be described in chapter 4.6.
3.1 Intrinsic motivaton and games
Why teaching grammar through games actually works so well? Intrinsic motivation may
also give some insight into this problematic. It refers to the internal factors that encourage us to do
something. Průcha charactrises intrinsic motivation as follows: “It is created by the characteristics
of the individual himself, such as personal perception, the structure of his personal values, goals
and desires” (2020, s. 94).
Sieglová in her book describes – in addition to the fact that motivation plays a key role in
education, older learners and adults need to see a personal reason for learning. To truly motivate a
person intrinsically, one must understand their individual needs and values. The
learners´perspectives need to be invited, and their natural desire for self-direction, responsibility,
achievement and self-actualization must be acknowledged. Learners need to be trusted and given
autonomy. Didactic activities and games are typically used to open a new lesson or are applied
before introducing a new subject. Focus on intrinsic motivation works by activating knowledge,
feelings, sentiments, impressions, emotions, opinions, or reflections and they link those with the
given topic. These activities celebrate creativity, competition, curiosity, and freedom in thinking
and acting. Activating techniques engage mainly productive communication skills through
speaking during brainstorming, discussion, and idea presenting sessions or through writing while
participants record ideas, notes or prepare short presentations (2019, p. 81 – 83).
Most young learners will not internally decide that they want to learn grammar. They don't
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yet understand the concepts of why it's important to know proper grammar, so these external factors
won't affect them much either. Instead, intrinsic motivation can encourage them to play games. If
these games are good then they will be learning while they are playing. Older and more mature
students can be more guided and motivated by the vision of how to apply in real life, in further
study or in the labor market. But not all games are going to work to teach the students language
skills. If the game is simply for fun and not linked to educational goals it may not be the best use
of our time. However, it is possible to have a fun education game. First, teacher should find out the
certain game activity. Some good recommendations from other colleagues, schools and even from
learners-selves may be very helpful. Teacher should think about several questions before use it in
practice:
• What skills does the activity practice?
• Does the difficulty level of the game connect with the learners´ ability level?
• What specific vocabulary or grammar will this activity practice?
• Do the learners like it?
We all middle-aged (generation Y) may remember when we were in school, sitting at a desk,
writing, correcting and rewriting sentences to learn the proper use of grammar. The dreaded
grammar tests were a nightmare. Well, while some people may still teach grammar in this method,
there is a movement towards teaching grammar with games. It is possible today more than ever
before. Teaching grammar through games will still be as effective, if not more effective, as will
teaching by repetitive writing and transcribing. These methods and techniques are directly offered
and can be also used in this global survival mode, current temporary DL in this frantic time. They
will certainly find their users in the standard operation of schools and beyond them in the future as
well.
3.1.1 Motivation to complete tasks
Among other things in this thesis, we can look at the motivation from the learners´perspective
and try to find out why so many students finish secondary Czech school with a low level of English.
A number of learners and teachers were interviewed and their suggestions for change to the teaching
methods are here mentioned.
There seem to be a variety of reasons why our school learners fail to reach a good level of
spoken English. The main problem seems to be the fact that teachers appear to place so much
significance on grammar. Learners appear to know a lot about grammar but can´t actually speak
with much confidence. What learners complain about most is that lessons are boring with too many
grammar excercises and gapfills.
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What steps can be taken to improve the situation? What teachers should try and need to do
is to place more emphasis on developing the listening and mainly speaking ability of learners in
real life situations. They need to introduce greater variety into their teaching and use more role-
plays, drama, cooperation in teams and so on. They should use as much authentic material as
possible: newspaper and magazine articles, songs, extracts from films etc. But what is most offered
to students in today's distance learning is real-time online communication with their peers. This can
further create stronger and friendly ties that students will use in the future when looking for a job
at home and abroad.
There are serious problems with the way that English is taught in our schools last couple of
years, leading to low motivation on the part of students. We want to believe that it is the way English
teachers are trained that needs to be changed, with more emphasis on preparing students to use
English in practical situations rather than approaching it as another academic subject.
3.2 Psychological view on learning process
Průcha in his book points to the current situation of learning psychology, where he mentions,
among other things, the fact that it is not at all easy to orient oneself in the current psychology of
learning, which has developed widely in the world and especially in the USA. According to him,
this is due to two circumstances (2020, p. 38):
• A great variety of theories and paradigms on which the explanation of individual
types of learning is based.
• Huge cumulation of research findings about learning processes.
Průcha acquaints the reader with various theories of learning and their contributions to
pedagogy and didactics in a very interesting, clear way. He mentions, among other things, Bloom's
psychodidactic theory of learning. Bloom developed a concept of learning called ‘mastery
learning’. The main principles of this theory of learning are (2020, p. 42):
• Mastery as a set of knowledge or skills at school is theoretically possible for all
students;
• if they have suitable conditions for this, namely the way of teaching optimally
shaped for the individual subject and the amount of time that the subject for learning
needs.
The reader can read more about this theory and its further benefits in the book Modern
Pedagogy (Průcha 2017). Although this concept is unfortunately a difficult theory to implement in
the practice of ordinary Czech school, it should at least motivate teachers to try to create the best
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possible learning conditions for their students and give them enough time, work with them as much
as possible and vary the tasks.
Sieglová in her book also mentions Bloom's taxonomy of educational goals and adds
Klooster´s name and his attitude to critical thinking. Briefly, Sieglová´s words on critical thinking,
cooperative learning, and educational goals could be further summarized as follows: from simple
to complex, from abstract to concrete and with the subsequent possibility of practical use (2019, p.
23). After all, this theory has long been held by the teacher of nations J. A. Comenius. Sieglová
adds: “To support learning, it is crucial to organize teaching so that it resembles the natural social
environment as closely as possible” (2019, p. 23).
3.3 The situation of learning psychology in the Czech Republic
Průcha states in his book: “Unlike the situation abroad, the state of psychology of learning
in our country is backward, underdeveloped, doesn´t have an organized infrastructure. In recent
years, we lack basic monographs about the psychology of learning, or so called ‘new sciences’.
Some partial research and surveys are conducted on the issues of intergenerational learning, self-
directed learning, learning styles, text learning, language learning, or learning process research with
subtitle from formal education to informal learning” (2020, p. 51).
Průch's book is aimed at a wide range of readers, students, teachers and researchers. Průcha's
book is aimed at a wide range of readers, students, teachers and researchers. It accompanies the
reader with a psychological reflection on various aspects of learning in today's modern times, where
it emphasizes not only the classical theoretical concepts of learning, but also current problems in
educational practice. He puts the concept of learning in psychological, social and holistic health
contexts.
In the same way, Zounek describes in a similar way auto-regulated learning within E-
learning, which reflects current pedagogical and technological trends in a balanced way.
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PRACTICAL PART
The aim of the bachelor thesis is to find answers to the questions that arose from the
extraordinary situation in the spring 2020, when schools and out-of-school facilities were closed
due to a pandemic. Until this time, distance education in the Czech Republic was known practically
only at universities. At primary and secondary schools, it became a reality almost overnight. During
this time, teachers had to communicate only with students and their parents on a distance. They
used various teaching materials and methods of online communication.
4 Research
The practical part deals with methodology, analysis and summary of the research. This topic
has been choosen because is very live. I felt the need to become acquainted with a relatively new,
but not so unknown phenomenon, which is talked and written about everywhere in these days. I
knew very little about this topic before thesis writing and it was the starting and driving engine to
learn more about it. The case study as a methodology design has been chosen for its objectivity,
which stems from real life, from the experiences, attitudes, opinons and feelings of students and
teachers; what is currently happening not only in front of computer monitors, but also outside of
them. It was a great opportunity to look into the lives of people who are becoming a bit of pioneers
in the field of DL at secondary schools. I believe this current topic will find its way to its readers
and will be further developed and explored.
4.1 Methodology and the aim of the research
Methodology design according to authors (Hendl, 2005, p. 115, 321 – 333) and (Švaříček,
Šeďová, 2007, p. 96 – 111). The following research methods and techniques were chosen to achieve
the goal of the thesis:
• Study of professional literature
• Questionnaire for teachers and students with closed and open questions
• Interviews with the representative teacher of English
• Observation of online teaching and comparison of theory and practice
I did the research among English language teachers and students of the Secondary Medical
School in Pardubice in the period of time winter 2020 – spring 2021. There is only a small
percentage of male students and male teachers at this school.
21
The subject of the research were the following main research questions, which this work will
try to answer:
• What methods, teaching materials, activities, assessment methods and communication
methods do teachers use in DL at the time of school closure?
• What are the experiences, pros, cons, advantages, disadvantages of DL from the point
of view of students and teachers?
• What are the teachers' recommendations for possible streamlining of DL, their tips and
tricks?
• Which of these experiences would be appropriate to use in the normal operation of
schools in the future?
This work will try to answer the following two hypotheses:
H1: English teachers are able to set criteria for DL so that teaching is effective,
attractive, and temporary appropriate replacement for full-time teaching until return to
schools.
H2: Despite theoretical and practical benefits of DL and the huge effort to motivate
learners, we suppose that more than 40% of learners and teachers want to return to
schools.
As the main areas and outputs of this work were considered:
• Analyze DL and find out how teachers think about the didactic use of ICT in their
subjects and how they think about their temporary online teaching.
• To acquaint readers with an unusual situation in teaching, to inspire, motivate future
teachers and students, how to use not only digital literacy and related innovative forms
of teaching, but also how adapt teaching to new situations.
• Show teaching tools and students' work.
4.2 Questionnaire survey
Questionnaire is a set of pre-prepared and carefully formulated questions, which are
thoughtfully arranged and to which the interviewee (respondent) answers in writing. Here is
definition of the term ‘research questions’ according to Švaříček, Šeďová: “Research questions
form the core of a research project. They fulfill two basic functions: they help to focus research so
that it provides results in accordance with the set goals, and they also show the way to conduct
research.
22
They represent a further narrowing and concretization of the research problem” (2007, p. 69).
In my bachelor thesis I did mixed research, both quantitative and qualitative. In quantitative
research, I used the technique of a questionnaire. I created two questionnaires with closed and open
questions in the web application Google Forms with 13 questions each. Six questions are always
open. The reason for including open questions was to get useful information, suggestions and
recommendations from both sides. I wanted to give teachers and students space to express their
opinions, so not bind them only with a yes / no / other scale. I was asked by the T1 to prepare the
questionnaire for students in the Czech language. So I created both questionnaires only in the Czech
language. Prepared questionnaires - separately for teachers and students, were sent per email to the
representative teacher of English (further only T1) to be filled. These were then forwarded to
teachers and students. The aim was to create questionnaires with clear questions, which will allow
the respondents on one hand simple, on the other hand expectedly creative, useful answers. The
questionnaires are attached in Appendix 1 and 2. In the research I used the technique of online
teaching observations and online meetings and emails with T1.
4.3 Data collection and analysis
In agreement with the school management and the T1, I addressed my questionnaires to
English language teachers and learners at the Secondary School in Pardubice. The research was
based on the voluntary participation of respondents through online questionnaires. Data collection
was realised from January to April. A total of 83 completed questionnaires were returned to me, 80
from students and 3 from teachers. The school has a total of about 260 students and approx 65
teachers, of which 5 are English teachers. The school has also another external staff. Number of
students´answers according to individual years: 18 from the first year, 23 from the second, 22 from
the third and 13 from the fourth year. Four learners didn´t answer the question. The following chart
1 shows the number of respondents from individual four years of school.
Chart 1: Number of respondents among students:
1823 22
13
1. y. 2. y. 3. y. 4. y.
23
In the course of the work, I decided to extend a relatively small representative sample from
teachers with interviews, in the form of telephone calls and emails with T1. T1 was the only teacher
who provided me with valuable information beyond the questionnaire.
In this chapter I present results of the research. The data obtained from questionnaires,
interviews and emails are processed in the form of statements made by students and teachers, some
of them are shown in charts or tables. I answer the basic research questions and hypothesis which
were set in the introduction of the practical part.
4.4 Data from Teachers
A questionnaire survey on my first research question for teachers “What methods, teaching
materials, assessment methods and communication methods do you use in DL at the time of school
closure”? All three interviewed teachers identically mentioned MS Teams as the main way of
communication and as the most favourite platform for general e-teaching of English language. It is
also used by most other teachers at school. For mass mediation of information for learners and
parents the school uses SOL (School OnLine). The Zoom platform is also well used during E-
meetings.
At the beginning of the general school closure, most teachers expected that all students
would take part in DL. However, according to teachers, this didn´t happen.
T1: “In the school classroom we often work in pairs, groups, we move around the
classroom, we communicate across the classroom, I try to move English a little. None of this took
place at our school at the beginning of DL. No online activity in which students communicate in
groups. Even not all students came to the regular online meetings regularly. Over the time, things
got better in Teams, but from each group not everybody got involved. Whether the students
mentioned major or minor technical problems with computers, the Internet connection, or did not
fully understand the purpose and meaning of this teaching (or the purpose and meaning were not
sufficiently explained to them). DL was even optional for some temporary time, not compulsory.
So I looked for other options and ways.”
The following table 1 shows a practical comparison, often mentioned pros and cons of two
most used platforms Zoom and MS Teams, mostly for general communication and for synchronous
teaching. Data source: WebSetNet.net.
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Table 1: Comparison of platforms Zoom and MS Teams
Enthusiastic DL teacher
How can we characterize and highlight the role, approach of the teacher who still manages
DL, is popular with students, is not boring? What makes this modern, innovative teacher better who
might be a few steps ahead of other colleagues? Here is a little story. I will try to characterize an
English teacher in couple of points who excels in ideas. This teacher (T1) didn´t expect the
immediate involvement of all students at the beginning. Started inventing activities that work in
full-time teaching in groups. Was looking for ways, innovative approaches. More or less
coincidentally was approached by the "Nice-to-emeet-you" project, founded by a Polish teacher via
the Facebook platform, where foreign teachers can contact each other. After that T1 organized and
arranged all necessary things. Students had the opportunity to meet at least virtually with students
from abroad and enrich themselves with knowledge of the given country and other interesting topics
in the online environment MS Teams or Zoom. T1 tried to share these ideas with other colleagues,
but they didn´t show such enthusiasm and interest. T1 didn´t want to have everything under control
alone and gave her students more freedom to try to control themselves and take this responsibility
seriously. With a smile and without stress. Students could be the initiators of the selection of topics
for these joint meetings. They could create and consult their prepared topics in form of digital
Zoom (in English) MS Teams (in Czech)
+Suitable also for larger lectures, meetings,
up to 100 participants
+Suitable also for larger lectures, meetings,
up to several thousands of participants
+Possibility to set a virtual background in the
room
+The license for it is directly in the long-term
licenses from Microsoft, which the school has
-Chat and files are deleted after the meeting + Chats and files remain after the end of the
meeting (because of chat-based workspace)
-With link from meeting provider only + It is also suitable for chat between individuals and
for consultations (it is not necessary to create a link)
-Time limit 40 minutes (for basic members, worse
quality than licenced version)
-Falls during larger meeting
-Limited storage -Unable to mute users
-There may be a security risk (hackers) - More frequent audio interruptions
-Students with a cell phone mention worse
connectivity than with a PC
-Students with a cell phone mention worse
connectivity than with a PC
Tool category: Web and Video Conferencing Tool category: Group Chat and Notifications
Provider China, original author Eric Yuan Provider USA, developer Microsoft Corporation
25
presentations in the suitable application. Most creative and engaged learners into these meetings
became a certificate, shown in Appendix 5.
T1 is aware of the importance of self-reflection and the necessary, preferably regular
mentoring with a colleague, with whom she shares and discusses new ideas and experiences. T1
has the advantage, her husband is also a teacher of Geography and PE at the same school and they
complement and support each other very well. We can dare to say that online teaching is a kind of
imaginary mirror, depicting the personality of the teacher, his / her teaching qualities, which should
to some extent reflect the set school strategy and the functioning of the school.
Activities
In the questionnare teachers mentioned these internet sources – applications, activities:
Kahoot!, YouTubeVideos, Learning Apps, Pixton, Animaker, Quizlet, Lyrics Training,
LiveWorkSheets, Google Escape Games, Wordwall, and Jeopardy. Each activity is more or less
specific in a certain way. These activities are new for teachers, they fill some of their English lessons
with them. Only after some time will they find out what suits them and what does not, what is
suitable for a certain class and level and what is not. Teachers just try and use all available materials
and sources, including traditional textbooks and worksheets. Textbooks and worksheets mainly for
explanation of the new necessary grammar.
Platforms Zoom and MS Teams are mainly used and prefered for meetings with students
from another schools to practice and improve mainly the phonology and discourse – listening and
speaking, communication skills. Students can hear different dialects, can ask and answer various
questions, have a great chance to talk and are also grateful for it. These activities are the most
popular among students due to the approach of the T1.
Learning Apps is an interesting, very complex and prefered online application for creating
interactive exercises (sorting, quizzes, adding, matching pairs, picture description, word guessing,
memory cards, pexeso, cloze test…). The application also includes other tools - voting, chat,
calendar, laptop, pinboard. Very similar and complex one is appliation Wordwall.
Some of these above mentioned activities are shown in the following table 2 chronologically
according to the degree of popularity, usability and time disposition of each certain lesson.
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Activity/Applicati
on/Platform
Vocabulary Grammar Listening Discourse Digital
Skills
Zoom, Teams: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Kahoot!: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Learning Apps: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Lyrics Training: ✓ ✓ ✓
Pixton: ✓ ✓
Animaker: ✓ ✓ ✓
Google tools: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Wordwall: ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Table 2: Synchronous and asynchronous activities practising English language
Selected useful and recommended applications – online activities with their online links are further
listed in Appendix 7.
Readers will learn more about the concrete online activities in chapter 4.6 of the practical part.
Games
Most children and young learners enjoy playing games, whether on a computer or on their
mobile devices, at home or outdoors, anywhere and anytime, and generaly many teachers want and
try to use games and liven up their English classes, depends on situation, level and character of the
learners. Teachers can take advantage of this enthusiasm by creating some useful language-related
games. (Normally, they should follow a set curriculum, and have approximately only two teaching
hours a week for one class. A textbook or syllabus is always a huge help to a teacher. Having and
using a textbook is a time-saver.) As a starting point, we can ask learners to choose a game they are
currently playing or have played recently. A teacher can ask them to work in groups and explain
their games to each other, so they can discuss each other´s contributions and saying if they would
recommend them. A teacher should encourage learners to ask each other questions about how the
games work to make sure they all understand. With these activities they learn making
recommendations, giving instructions or advice, mention various previous events, argue etc.
During my school practice at primary school in 2019, there was the opportunity to observe
English lessons directly in the classrooms among learners from the 4th to the 9th class. I can confirm
that games have been widely used. They have a purpose beyond the production of correct speech,
and are examples of the most preferable communicative activities. Grammar games help children
not only gain knowledge but be able to apply and use that learning. Learners are often more
motivated to play games than they are to do deskwork. Games are motivating for the learners.
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Especially those that are funny and challenging are highly motivating. Probably the best reason to
use games is that the use of such activities both increases the cooperation and competition in the
class. Indeed they can be used to add excitement through competition or to create bonding between
the learners, and between the learners and teacher.
The significant difference is that under normal circumstances, learners are free to use space
during games, while in front of the computers they sit rather passively and watch a few points on
the screen.
Games provide a safe, fun outlet for competitive urges and help keep students from
becoming too exam focused and be stressed. Role-play games, reenactments and murder mysteries,
where students have to improvise and play outsie their everyday lives, create changeable situations
that encourage flexible thinking in all students. Those who struggle with test anxiety often attein
new levels of fluency in these games because the goal is not to get a good score but to find out ‘who
did it’ or to achieve some goal, such as bargaining with other groups for items they need to fulfil a
game´s objective.
Potential of online teaching
The answers to the third question “What potential do you see in online, mixed (blended)
teaching, which of these experiences would be appropriate to use in the normal running of schools
in the future?” are a bit more diverse, here are examples: “The potential is in the motivatioanal
spirit; students are used to technology, but technical possibilities at school falter, the problem is
usually the poor quality of computer technology and internet connection. But certainly better
blended teaching than just only online teaching as it is so far. There is a possibility to contact native
speakers or other ESL teachers from abroad, but the best contact is direct one. Usage for long-term
sick students and maintenance of newly acquired computer skills by both pupils and teachers.”
From above mentioned follows that blended learning seems to be some solution to the
problem of teaching English.
Motivation
There is obvious frustation in the answers to the fourth question “Do you feel a gradual loss
of motivation and social ties in DL”? T1 answers: “That's the other side of the thing. Yes, learners
are already tired and everything is so mediated that some of them can lose and do lose discipline. I
perceive a huge loss of motivation even by "gifted" students, loss of attention is another thing that
often appears, social contact is lacking for everyone. It is not a good long-term teaching tool.’The
loss of motivation didn´t show itself in the first half of the year, but with the following months the
fatigue and laxity of some students, including the lack of social ties, is especially noticeable by the
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first year learners who did not manage to get acquainted. However, DL offers a lot of possibilities
which are far from being used, mainly due to the fact that the cameras do not have to be switched
on.”
We can assume that students’ low motivation to learn can have many reasons. It is often
caused by a lack of patterns in families and inadequate housing, which does not provide children a
sufficiently peaceful environment for home preparation. At other times, various school and out-of-
school clubs, organizations and various forms of tutoring help to solve this problem, which,
however, were not possible to use in the given pandemic situation.
Volunteering
Quite interesting was the answer to the question whether some students got involved in any
volunteer work during the school closures. T1 answers: “Only a few individuals (graduates) help
out in medical facilities voluntarily, now mainly to avoid didactic tests during graduation exams.
Some students are active in DofE programme (Duke of Edinburgh´s Award) and some have even
achieved a bronze placement in the past.” We can only agree that such creative, voluntary activities
make sense. They support the comprehensive development of abilities and skills through long-term
and regular activities in real life and situations, not just in virtual life at the computer. It´s open to
all backgrounds, cultures and abilities. Let's hope that we will soon meet again many enthusiastic
people in similar, already traditional hobby clubs in our country, such as scout, falcon, tremping or
the increasingly popular international school exchanges.
Assessment
Assessment is based on working in online classes, tests in MS Teams and oral examinations
online with a camera. Verbal evaluation predominates.
Communication
Another question tries to find out what proportion of students maintain online
communication with their teachers and in what ways is contact maintained with students who are
not online from various reasons. Teachers guess that 90% of students communicate via MS Teams
environment, the rest after agreement with parents communicates via email.
General teachers´ evaluation of DL
From the summary question “How do you generally evaluate the complexity of distance
learning compared to standard full-time teaching (in terms of time, mental demands ...)”?, we learn
the following: DL is very demanding - mentally and physically (long sessions at the PC), it is very
time consuming, it is not possible to do all necessary activities within the system Use of English.
DL no longer entertains not only students but also teachers.
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To the next question, whether teachers participate in DVPP programs or other educational
or career courses, teachers answered in the same way - they do not participate in any. They
occasionally attend interestingly described webinars or trainings. And they add, “the sense will
become apparent only after their completion. They don´t always meet expectations.”
4.5 Data from Learners
General view and experience with DL
A questionnaire survey on my first research question for Learners “What is your opinion -
how do you experience and how do you evaluate distance learning in general”? From eighty
answers to this question, the minuses clearly predominate. But it is necessary to mention that at the
beginning (first couple of months) the learners liked the new form, it was something completely
new for everyone, but the initial enthusiasm quickly waned. After the initial euphoria in the sense
of more time for everything, not have to commute, being able to sleep longer, not always have to
be online or without an active camera, etc., students began to feel deficiencies in the subject matter,
misunderstanding, inability to fully concentrate and motivate in self-study, shorter time to complete
tests, and the resulting stress and dissatisfaction from all these things. Those who participate and
mainly those who will participate the school practice, think that they will be in big troubles.
Learners’ general statements: some subjects simply cannot be taught online, lack of practical
skills for graduation exam, of course various technical problems, loss of privacy at home, some
even mention children's dependence on the Internet, among the pros is the great admiration of their
English teacher that she is still doing well. (On the other hand, teachers noted that some ‘non
technical’ students mentioned tech problems all the time so that they would not have to be so
involved in teaching.) Most students want to go back to school to see their peers and teachers as
soon as possible. Some individuals have already signed petitions circulating on social networks for
the reopening of schools, institutions, playgrounds etc., as well as teachers and the general public
did.
Feedbacks
When I asked whether learners receive feedback from teachers on most of their tasks and
homework and in what form, most of them (almost 100%) answered unanimously that they usually
did, sometimes in words, sometimes in writing, rarely by a mark.
Time consum
Another question concerned school obligations, whether they consume more or less time
than in traditional full-time teaching, and whether the learners are limited in their professional
practice. In average, learners report that school responsibilities take more time. They have to learn
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more about professional practice, as they have gaps from last year, they can't try and train some
activities and skills they will need in professional practice in the next school year.
Improvement of DL
Another question was to clarify whether students see any possibility in improving access to
DL: “In your opinion, what would all the participants - school management, teachers and you now
really need to make DL better, easier (until normal condition and full-time teaching)?” Learners
answered: “Understanding us students that we are not robots and that we also try and do what we
can. I guess we all need some motivation to keep using that DL. Both students and teachers are
definitely tired of all of this, as DL is more complicated. It would be best go back to school, no one
has been enjoying this for a long time.”
The answers to this question included other statements and terms such as: patience, drop
stress, training for some teachers, fewer tasks or more time to complete them. The answers to
several questions in questionnaire show a strong desire to return to school.
Feelings and performance self-evaluation
With another question I wanted to find out how the learners feel during online English
lessons and how they evaluate their performance themselves. “How do you feel about teaching
English online and how do you evaluate your performance”? There has always been, is and will be
a difference in levels, abilities among students. The following answers were quite varied and
indicate great diversity and rich self-reflection of students. Here is one great example: “This is the
best in my school life, we are in small groups according to our level of English, finally we can
"normally" talk in English without "slower" students. I'm not an English champion, sometimes I
help myself with a translator or something like that, but English is great. We have an amazing, I
repeat amazing teacher, who also arranges various video conferences with students from other
countries. It's divine. It's a pity that not everyone shares my opinion and then they cough it up. But
I love English. What the teacher does for us is very valuable to me.”
Generally learners feel very well in English lessons, they evaluae the positive attitude of
their teacher and the activities they practice in the lessons. They are very grateful for speaking
opportunities. Some state they have even improved their English. I think that the great effort and
work of the English T1 many times mentioned costs so many positives. Even from other statements,
it is more than obvious that there are not many other, innovative, passionate and lively teachers at
this school.
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The following 2 indicators about motivation and teaching form preferences are in charts 2
and 3.
Motivation
Chart 2: Learners´ motivation / demotivation about DL
From the answers to this question, it is clear that students consider disturbances and stimuli
from the environment to be very demotivating, over 42% of respondents. 30% of respondetns report
a lack of understanding of the subject matter as a handicap. Learners who had problems with time
management, meeting deadlines were 13%, associated with the word procrastination. Other
obstacles and problems were often mentioned by students´: lack of privacy in the family, various
technical problems (especially at the beginning of DL), illness and mental problems in the family.
disturbances and stimuli from the
environment42%
misunderstanding of teaching
30%
failure to meet deadlines
13%
others15%
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Teaching form preference
Chart 3: Satisfaction / dissatisfaction of the current situation
It is clear from the answers that most students are looking forward to go back to school. This
is also more than evident from answers to other questions. Some have become accustomed to the
regime and would like something in between, because there are obviously some students who don´t
have such problems with time management, self-autonomy and can afford to organize more leisure
activities or even volunteering.
Self – autonomy and self – education
The issue of self-autonomy and self-education can seem very difficult for some secondary
learners (mainly for lower classes, immature learners) and could be associated with inner
motivation and the necessary self-discipline. Individual self-study can be a disadvantage for some
students because they need to be managed and guided, as well as limited by time constraints, they
miss direct pressure and contact from the teacher they have become accustomed to during their
years at school, and initial external motivation fades very quickly. On the other hand for some
smarter students with better abilities seems to be DL form as an advantage, they feel their self-
potential. Parents role models and family support also have a major impact on success.
4.6 Activities in DL
Practical topics and online activities based on them are described in this chapter and are
focused on all language skills and competencies practiced in today´s DL.
As mentioned in the theoretical part, skills and competencies like creativity, critical
go back to school53%
continue in DiL8%
something in between -sometimes
physically to school, sometimes
DiL39%
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thinking, communication, collaboration, digital literacy, can all be developed in student-centred
motivating ways.
Generally it could be practical and useful to ask learners which messanger app they use most
and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of it in teaching and learning English.
According to website Statista, with over two million online apps available (not all of them
are available for all devices), it is perhaps unsuprising that, although they open up a world of
opportunities, teachers may have felt overwhelmed, mainly at the beginning of a pandemic
situation, and it was difficult for them to know where to start. Common questions were:
• How to create an active, collaborative classroom online?
• How to help students with that loss of face-to-face collaboration and connection, and
transfer this experience to an online environment?
• What are good apps for English language learning?
• How to recognize they are the right level?
• Which learning apps do learners really like?
• Will these apps help learners learn comparatively well or even more effectively than
using traditional classroom tools?
There are plenty of things we can ask learners to do with their mobile devices using the most
basic features and apps that they are already likely to be familiar with. As T1 foreshadowed in the
previous chapter – less is sometimes more, beware of using too many different apps. Teachers
should know what they want to achieve with each app they use, and how it will contribute to more
effective learning. Since there are millions of apps and not all are available for all devices, this
thesis names only some most used apps and concentrates instead more on types of activity.
However, some apps will be recommended as a starting point or because of their widespread use in
education.
Broadly speaking, we can divide apps for the language class into two categories: those which
offer automated language practice and those which enable users to create things. The first tend to
be apps for practising grammar or vocabulary, which give an automated response as to whether one
has done something correctly or not. Creative apps allow learners to make things using the
language, such as an e-book, poster, magazine, or video. Both have their place in language learning,
but overuse of automated apps may lead to demotivation among learners.
According to the research data from learners and teachers, the most mentioned and
preferable applications or websites used mainly for individual works (home assignments) are:
www.helpforenglish.cz, and www.duolingo.com.
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4.6.1 Activities – international E-meetings
We can also call this activity as interaction, simulation or stage game, all in one. This
multifaceted and all-encompassing online activity, with its intention, reflects the topic of cultural
differentiation and cultural cooperation. It teaches students about the possibilities of cooperation,
ways of negotiating, acting in conflict situations and about problems, topics that may arise when
cultures meet with different customs, traditions or taboos. Learners learn terms such as culture,
customs, holidays, fests, traditions, geography, history, landmarks, taboos, etc. At the same time,
they deepen their communication skills, ability to work in a group and also creativity or skills by
making various props, collages and other aids. These meetings are the core content of all online
English lessons at the monitored school, which the teacher actively and in-depth devotes herself to.
Communication platforms Zoom and MS Teams are used for these lessons. Some platforms
automatically upload the audio file to the cloud storage or has its own storage space where the file
will be easily accessible to learners. The search and preparation phase for E-meetings is described
in chapter 4.4 with the subtitle Enthusiastic DL teacher.
T1 doesn´t divide the teaching into separate parts, as is classically divided in the textbooks
(e.g. reading, listening, vocabulary, word study, use of english, writing, grammar, speaking and
pronunciation). Doesn´t use typical more or less unattractive excercises as in the majority of the
textbooks (gap filling, multiple choice, rewrite the sentence, chose the right letter / word / answer,
or add the missing one etc.). Doesn´t use a large number of applications, for which the vast majority
require complex registration or payment of fees. Uses mainly the Kahoot! application to test,
practice and recapture new information, knowledge and insights. This online application can
replace a lot of activities that are in classic textbooks. What´s more, learners can create the content
(tests, quizzes, etc.) themselves.
As a guest, I participated in a total of six such E-meetings over the three months. They took
place via Zoom or MS Teams, 40 to 70 minutes each. At each meeting, both schools had a topic
prepared in advance in the form of presentations, which were further discussed in breakout rooms.
The meeting was always accompanied by the game Kahoot. The main guide of the meeting was
always T1.
For clarity, I present a table with the names of partner schools and the main topics of E-
meetings and further are presented concrete examples of activities within E-meetings.
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School Main topic
Fatma Emin Kutvar Anadolu Lisesi, Turkey International Women´s Day
St. Mark´s School, New Delhi, India Our school, Eating out, Habits
Sec. Technical School, Poznan, Poland Czech-Polish education system, Ideal teacher
Centro de Educación Continua y a Distincia
UAEH, Pachuta, Mexico
Habits, Fests, Tongue twisters
Sec. Technical School, Poznan, Poland Eating habits, Menu creation
Fatma Emin Kutvar Anadolu Lisesi, Turkey Most important person in your life
Table 3: Names of schools and main topics of E-meetings
Here are concrete examples of activities within E-meetings.
Presentations
This is exactly what most English lessons at the monitored school are about at the time of
closed schools.
Generally a presentation transmit information from a speaker to an audience. It is a suitable
tool in language learning mainly for upper intermediate and advanced learners (2nd, 3rd and 4th
graduation year). It is engaging for learners and they practise key skills. Digital presentations
present new opportunities for creating and learning, as learners have the freedom to express
themselves through different combinations of digital media. Learners learn to introduce, inform,
motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product, stimulate listeners´ imagination. Last but
not least, it is a good fun, enjoyment, it offers to the listeners valuable information and new
knowledge.
Topic example: Food, Meals, Eating out, Menu creation
Learners should make a presentation with visual material in Power Point, and so prepare for
the upcoming internatioanal E-meeting via MS Teams or more preferable Zoom platform, it
depends on agreement of both schools. The T1 always tries to show the learners new procedures
clearly first, demonstrates them during online lesson. After that assigns them to create a new task
on a certain agreed topic, for which they have a certain time space until the next online lesson.
Learners´ attention is usually focused on specific language area or they can feel free to
choose whatever area or style they like (as inspiration can be a film-trailer, a book, holiday, first
school practice, driving school, zoo visit, journey to school, menu or favourite recipe, etc.). The last
mentioned topic is the case of our monitored school. Czech learners created with Polish learners
the concrete presentation called “Czech and Polish traditional cuisine and menu creation” in Power
Point. Learners do cooperate, exchange ideas, argue with each other via preferable social media.
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A teacher step by step explains basic information and conditions to the learners in these
words first: A well-mastered presentation should be a presentation in learners´ own words with a
possible reading of some passages. The purpose should not be exhaustive information, but a
selection of the most important facts. You can use several sources of information, which must
always be listed. Your presentation should include: introductory motivation of your audience
(peers), the use of visual material - pictures, clarification of technical, unknown or foreign terms, a
final summary and provide space for questions and discussion. Try to use speech cards with main
points instead of reading from paper. Try to imagine this is some kind of discussion, opinions
exchange and should take place between you and your peers. Please, be ready to have your cameras
on.
Generally unattractive, monotonous reading is inappropriate, such as a ‘report’ in the case
of a full-time teaching at school.
Topic example: Tongue Twisters
As one of the sub-topics during the meetings, T1 includes tongue twisters, rather as a quick
warm-up and entertainment activity. T1 searches for tongue twisters containing sounds that learners
have difficulty with or just for liven up English lesson and sends them to the learners to practise
saying them to each other during online lesson in breakout rooms. Learners also teach their foreign
peers Czech equivalents and vice versa.
Acccording to learners from other secondary school, teachers ask them for example to check
their pronunciation using voice recognition on their device to see if the tongue twister appears
correctly on screen. As a follow up, learners can make recordings on the messaging app or
smartphones. They can re-record until they are happy with their recording, they can share it with
their teacher, peers, anybody they want. Then they announce the winner of the competition together.
Function, a teacher is able to:
Fold groups effectively if possible, moderate, summarize what has been said, tries to
highlight interesting moments and “throws a thread” (translation of the author) for further reactions
as an inspicient in the theater. Also monitors the time of the presentation. Tries to recapitulate and
formulate general or specific conclusions at the end of the discussion activities. Tries to stimulate
further activity and curiosity in the learners and purposefully, humorously, spontaneously
encourages them to further mutual cooperation beyond the teaching lessons. Trains them to present
their ideas clearly. Advices them to practice speaking in front of an audience (with cameras on) and
under pressure. Reminds them at the same time that a lot of discussions and speeches are frequently
37
recorded in the real professional and career life. Stresses that even for short presentations, rehearsal
of content and timing is essential. Challenges them to self-corret to achieve objectivity and precision
in what they are saying (presenting).
From the survey – observations during the E-meetings, it was clear that T1 was very
successful in this targeted strategy and lot of learners formed new friendships with each other and
promised each other a personal visit in their hometowns and schools.
Assessment:
We should always try to assess what has been produced, so the language correction can be
secundar in case of DL, but not less important. If we assess more language and less the creative
form, we may demotivate learners and make them less likely to engage with future projects.
Tip for teachers:
Learners usually follow the pace set by teachers. In such contexts, if learners don´t
understand a language presentation, they are likely to fall behind and lose motivation. One way to
solve this is by creating short recording of things such as language presentations or help videos,
which the teacher can then share with learners to watch after lessons if necessary to help them keep
up. Screen recordings can be paused and repeated, allowing learners to easily watch them whenever
they need to. They can also be helpful when learners were absent from the lesson.
Explain to your students that one of the main purposes of presentaions in general is to
become active listeners and develop the ability to acknowledge the opponents´arguments. Good
idea is to tell them that changing opinions if convinced by the counter arguments is not a sign of
weakness but a demonstration of intellect, fair play, and excellence. Prepare your graduation
students in diplomacy. Teach them assertive but polite language.
Function, learners are able to:
Greet; introduce; begin conversation with foreigners; agree and disagree; describe people
and things; express feelings; discuss; compare; ask for, react to and give personal information;
exchange opinions; persuade; predict; invite; make suggestions and offers; write a simple narrative;
manage conversation etc.
Advantages:
1. Mutual learning gives to the learners an important role in education. It leads to the
support of their responsibility, and it motivates, among other things. Awareness of
education as a wealth and self-property.
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2. Relationships, student cohesions and other components of the teaching climate are
improving.
3. Such a teaching climate makes better even the role of the teacher, who is thus in the
welcome role of a mere moderator of the activity, and teacher´s power recedes into the
background.
4. Learners speak at the same level of communication, better understand to each other than
the often complex speech of a teacher full of technical expressions and personal
interests.
5. Learners know and use various mnemonic aids, feints, simplifications and abbreviations
that the teacher doesn´t know or has long forgotten.
6. This mutual learning reinforces the individual approach and often automatically
differentiates the difficulty in a mutually learning group.
7. With a good method and strategy, all or the vast majority of students are involved, even
with cameras on.
Disadvantages:
A teacher is not the smartest person in the world, because has no space for his/her
“wise” interpretation.
Texting
In order to save time and use fewer characters, youth and many people in general use
‘textspeak’. T1 explains the difference between abbreviations, acronyms, and emoticons (emojis).
T1 prepares and searches for some terms online and finds translations of what´s in common use in
these days. T1 gives learners some examples first and asks them to say or guess what they mean.
Then puts learners into teams (breakout rooms – usually group of 4). T1 says and shows examples
in interactiv program (Power Point, Google tools) and tells learners that the first team to type the
correct meaning in the chat room will win a point. T1 repeats it with other items. The team with
most of the points wins. To follow up, T1 asks learners to text further examples for others to guess.
Here are some common, well known examples among learners.
Abbreviations (shortcuts):
B4N - by for now TBH - to be honest
BFF - best friends forever ASAP - as soon as possible
CU 2moro - see you tomorrow ICYMI - in case you missed it
NP - no problem IMO - in my opinion
BRB - be right back IK - I know
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Acronyms (an abbreviation that is spoken as a single word):
AIDS, QANTAS, SABENA
A teacher explains and remembers to the learners: We use the when reffering to the abbreviations
like the EU, the USA, the UN, but not with acronyms like UNESCO, UNICEF, OPEC, NAFTA,
CELTA, TEFL, TESOL etc.
Abbreviations made up of initial letters, like EU, USA, are spoken with the stress on the last letter.
Many frequently used abbreviations may be written with or without full stops: i.e. or ie, a.m. or am,
p.m. or pm, U.S.A. or USA.
Nowdays people may spend more time typing on device than writing with a pen or pencil.
While the skill of handwriting remains important, text messaging is another way or writing that can
be used to motivate or rather to amuse the learners.
Writing tasks
Notice / short story / email / chat message / formal or informal letter. T1 challenges learners
to plan and type (write by hand) their own story or diary during the pandemic time as a form of
writing assignment.
Topic example: My quarantine diary
Within the revision of past tenses the learners already know, the T1 assigns the learners to
write a short story, email, message, formal or informal letter. Alternatively, they write about a
certain topic (for example, ‘Once upon a time’, ‘My quarantine diary’, etc.) Second mentioned topic
as a one of writing tasks is shown as an example in Appendix 6.
The goal of assigning this task is to practice the correct use of times in the context.
Furthermore, the teacher tries to find out the feelings and attitudes of learners. By this task is at
least a little possible to gain insight into their perception of DL. Students also get acquainted with
a new creative application first and try to practice their digital skills.
Kahoot!
Kahoot works almost exclusively with a multiple choice format with a maximum of four
answer options, as well as a few variants of tasks, such as word sorting. It works on practically the
same principle as a PowerPoint presentation. It can be a suitable complement to any interpretation
of the curriculum. Images, maps, graphs, links, videos and text can be inserted into individual
Kahoot slides. The course of the activity itself is conceived as a game, where all connected players
are shown one question at a time, which is answered by pressing one of the colors on the screen of
40
their smartphone or PC. The winner team is the one who answers not only correctly, but also faster.
Kahoot has got some really interesting game-based learning features and teacher can make
some settings. For example players can get points depending on how quickly they answer the
questions. It is possible to limit the time learners have to answer the questions. So at the
beginning of the game teacher can give the learners 20 seconds to answer the question but
towards the end only 10 seconds. At the end of each question Kahoot always shows who the top
learners are in a league table. There is even a commentary on who is improving.
Generally when T1 works with Kahoot, she always gets her students to work in teams. It
makes the activity collaborative, learners can share ideas.
The Kahoot platform allows to share presentations with each other and with colleagues.
It is obvious that each teacher teaches differently, but when sharing with colleagues, it is possible
to create a duplicate of the material and adjust it to ones needs.
Kahoot will probably not replace popular methods and organizational forms of full-time
study. However, teachers believe that even after returning to the schools, it can become an
attractive addition to teaching.
Another creative tasks
There are several apps for creating and sharing own e-books (e.g. Book Creator). One can
add photos, text, audio and the e-book can be saved as a PDF or in a format that is readable on
different e-readers (e.g. Kindle from Amazon). Making their own materials involves learners
working together to find their own real-world contexts for target words. By discussing, describing,
practising and recording their words, they make the vocabulary more meaningful and more
memorable. Their finished work will give them a sense of pride and achievement, and also
something tangible to show to their friends and family.
Topic example: Photo collage
Acccording to learners and information from other secondary schools, teachers give their
students freedom and let them actively and critically create what they enjoy. For example, when
they do something, go somewhere and take pictures of what they do and see. Then they share them
on social networks and present their experiences in class groups. Smartphone camera is probably
the most popular feature of mobile devices. Paper pictures have long been an aid in language
teaching. Nowdays, learners like to show their devices full of pictures, which can be used for both
language production and digital skills work. By asking learners to take photos outside class to use
in lessons, teachers allow them to bring their own lives into the classroom, personalizing materials
and making tasks more intrinsically motivating.
41
Another recommended activities and tools from the general public: Podcasting, Audio
recordings, YouTube video creation, QR codes, etc.
In short, encouraging and boosting self-confidence through various activities (not only
digital ones) is the key to successful language learning.
A widely used systems (LMS) for school administration and communication with parents
and students called Bakaláři and Moodle enable the classic assignment of homework and other
numerous functions, which can also be used during the normal operation of the school.
4.7 Mental hygiene
Not only teachers and learners train the brain by training memory. At school, learners learn
poems, songs, phrases, irregular verbs, listed words, part of speech, types of pronouns, numerals,
grammatical connections, etc. At home they play games (more computer than classic board ones),
solve crossword puzzles, riddles, they must remember tasks from their parents, shopping list or
various passwords, numbers and access codes. It is very important to compensate these static,
passive activities with physical activity, to get out of the "comfort zone" of the home and to get rid
of all electronic and digital devices. Here are some tips:
• Posture – sitting at a desk all day is not a good idea and it´s beneficial to have breaks
and change positions.
• Lie flat on the floor with knees bent and head supported. Try and stand on your hands
or on your head.
• Relax for couple of minutes and allow the spine to re-align.
• Jogging – running, which is sometimes combined by brisk walking (training of the
heart, lungs and at the same time oxygenation of the brain).
• Be mindful, not have mind full.
• Do something good for someone else.
• Happines isn´t about getting what you want all the time. It´s about loving what you
have and beeing grateful for it.
4.8 Research summary and recommendation
After comparing theory and practice, I came to the conclusion that the ongoing DL at schools,
its tools, teaching methods and strategies used is influenced by the role of the teacher and his/her
teaching style. As the teaching form changes, so do the roles of teachers and students. It is believed
that there is not only one separate instruction, procedure or method that would take into account in
all respects, all the wishes and ideas that a certain teaching group or individual teachers bring to
42
teaching. However, these factors can significantly affect the specific preparation for teaching,
planning of lessons and the design of the lesson.
The findings of the survey show that DL is time-consuming and organizationally demanding
not only for the teacher who prepares, manages and evaluates teaching, but also for learners,
especially in the field of their study habits and skills, which many of them still cultivate from
transition of primary to secondary school. At the same time, it contributes greatly to the
development of students' autonomy. In thesis were mapped the views of teachers and leraners on
how they practically and emotionally perceive DL since spring 2020 till nowdays. I found that both
sides views on the new form of teaching were initially neutral and positive, with signs of concern
and expectation, mainly because of enthusiasm for something new, unusual. It was a big challenge
for everyone. Teachers were looking for new activities, materials and teaching aids. Innovative and
far-sighted, proacive T1 led learners to write a diary as a part of their writing skills, from which
was possible gain some insight into their perception of DL.
H1: We can therefore confirm the first hypothesis - teachers set their criteria for DL, they
tried to be as efficient as possible and used the available options and tools with quite positive
feedback from the learners.
H2: We can also confirm the second hypothesis - the initial enthusiasm of students for the
new type of teaching was replaced by some skepticism and after about a year lasting DL we find
that negative feelings and attitudes predominate (these may be related to problems in the social and
psychological level of students and their families, and communication and cooperation between
teachers at school). Learners and also teachers want to return to school as soon as possible for
standard full-time teaching. According to their answers, for some the integration of ICT into
teaching is not a fundamental problem, they form a natural part of their lives, they have stopped
paying attention to them and their integration into teaching is not a special feature. Perhaps even
this model fits them well and they feel like a fish in water. However, this is only a very small
percentage of individuals.
With the hypotheses, also main four research questions given at the beginning of the
practical part were answered. The activities and examples presented in this work have been verified
in practice and T1 and learners have a positive experience with them.
We can dare to say that most schools (at least every primary and secondary school) had been
looking for a critical time for a way to prepare for the alternative DL, when learners could not attend
school. We can say that being prepared for DL does not only mean providing the necessary technical
equipment and choosing a suitable platform. It is also necessary to provide teachers with suitable
conditions for getting acquainted with the necessary approaches, tools and their practical use in
43
teaching. Each school responded to the new situation as best as it could. And this was also the case
of our researched school.
During the year-long distance learning, numerous new international friendships have
developed between students. It is obvious that learners are motivated mainly by desire to be able to
speak with foreigners, by awareness of their development, the possibility of better employment in
the future, desire to succeed and complete studies, and of course, last but not least, by better mark.
In English lessons the elements like personality of teacher, atmosphere in lesson, speaking,
listening and appreciation during the lessons have strong position and can be seen as a sources of
motivation. That means these are the factors the learners enjoy in English lessons. Teachers should
with a balanced degree concentrate on revision and amusement in classes. Work in groups, pair
work, taking notes, searching for information, using smartphones and classmates’ help are the
elements which are and should be further improved in English lessons.
The experience and recommendations of teachers and students provide the following
summary: Teachers should focus on team work - breakout rooms, on maximizing attention in class
also by faster students working on a mobile phone or computer and expanding their knowledge
without waiting for others; insist on the use of cameras; assign homework via online platforms;
choose quality videos; not use so many complicated applications; maintain digital skills; be
inventive and optimistic. However, they should be aware that less is sometimes more, not
overwhelm with tasks and homework. Despite some attractive tasks and teaching materials, the
motivation to perform decreases due to the length of DL. As a compromise, blended learning seems
like a good solution to the problem of transitional, emergency distance English learning and
teaching in these days, when face-to-face or professionall, well structured distance education is not
exactly possible.
Regular, informal meetings with students and teachers is something that needs support and
enthusiasm. Will teachers and students care about them? It is believed that teachers will try to find
common ground and improve mutual cooperation. Most processes are about personalization and of
course cooperation, character, positive thinking, abilities, approach to work.
It may also be easy to get caught up in the stereotype of online teaching, where teachers use
the same approaches and styles every day, week, over and over again, just as they do in full-time
form, no matter how creative. Therefore, teachers should actively look for new educational
opportunities and challenges - it is, among other things, about changing the habits associated with
the learning of others and one's own learning. Let them find these opportunities in discovering
possibilities that can take them further and reveal their hidden potential, which they didn´t know
about yet. If they help their students discover theirs, it will be the best they can give them.
44
Conclusion
At the moment, the pandemic situation lasting more than a year has intensified the
pedagogical debate over whether online teaching is an equivalent educational form as a full-time
form. DL has numerous representatives at universities, on the other hand, it is very much opposed
by the older generation of teachers, especially those who teach humanities and arts, and secondary
vocational school teachers, who have great problems and dilemma in providing adequate teaching
and practice in manual disciplines and services, and in the opinion of the general public, many of
these teachers have from DL horror scenarios. According to them, online teaching is completely
inadequate and unsatisfactory, which of course has a retroactive effect on students, their mood,
feelings and perception of a whole online teaching as such. The fact is that still lot of teachers were
themselves not exposed to ICT-related instruction when they attended primary and secondary
school, or even an university, presents a considerable obstacle in the integration of the new learning
culture in addition to the hierarchical structure of the educational scene.
With the new e-society come other new multimedia elements that are reflected in learning
processes and work processes. This requires didactic and organizational changes which are based
on opportunities to make use of the digital media for learning. Time and place independent learning
becomes possible with simultaneous supervision by teachers.
There is a growing demand for virtual learning scenarios to be made available in teaching
training and further vocational training – teachers see themselves with increasing frequency in the
role of teacher and learner at the same time. Models for these forms of learning which necessiate
more autonomous learning, individual time management and new forms of cooperative learning
need further research and development.
To sum up, it is supposed that integrating ICTs into education is becoming nowdays so
natural and common and hopefuly in future it will not be necessary to alter learning anymore and
teachers will get from learning through E-learning all the way round to blended learning, and
happily return back to learning.
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List of Appendixes
Appendix 1: Dotazník pro studenty
Appendix 2: Dotazník pro učitele
Appendix 3: Distance learning: a history of flexibility
Appendix 4: Printscreen of Zoom and MS Teams E-meetings with school from India and
Mexico
Appendix 5: International Project ‘Nice to e-meet you!’
Appendix 6: Student´s Quarantine Diary – handwritten and in digital form
Appendix 7: Generally recommended and used application programs and activities, with
internet links
Appendix 1:
Dotazník pro žáky
Téma: Distanční výuka anglického jazyka na střední škole v ČR
Prosíme o vyplnění tohoto dotazníku, který slouží k zmapování situace distanční výuky
angličtiny na vaší škole.
1. Jaký máš názor - jak prožíváš a jak celkově hodnotíš distanční výuku (DiV)?
2. Překvapilo tě něco, měl/měla jsi s něčím problém v DiV? (technika, připojení, organizace
času, jiné)
3. Je podle tebe něco vyloženě demotivující na DiV?
a) vyrušování a podněty z okolí
b) nepochopení výuky
c) nezvládání termínů
d) jiné
4. Co ti vyhovuje a co ne při výuce na dálku?
5. Probíráte učivo rychleji/pomaleji než běžně ve škole; můžete se v některých tématech
dozvědět více, než by se stihlo ve škole?
6. K většině svých úkolů od učitelů získáváš zpětnou informaci, jak jsi je zvládl? (známkou
nebo slovně?)
7. Školní povinnosti ti zabírají méně/více času než při klasické prezenční výuce? Limituje tě
něčím DiV při vykonávání odborné praxe?
8. Jak se cítíš při online výuce AJ a jak hodnotíš svůj výkon?
9. Pokud by to situace bezpečně umožňovala, chtěl/a by jsi?
a) návrat do škloy
b) pokračovat v distančním vzdělávání
c) něco mezi - občas fyzicky do školy, občas výuku na dálku
10. Využíváš kontaktů (online setkání, meetingů, webinářů...) se studenty z jiných
škol či organizací?
11. Co by podle tvého názoru všichni účastníci - vedení školy, učitelé i ty nyní reálně
potřebovali k tomu, aby se vám DiV realizovala lépe, snáze? (do doby než přijde normální
stav a prezenční výuka)
12. Jaká je tvoje nejoblíbenějš, nejpoužívanější webová stránka nebo aplikace za účelem DiV
angličtiny? Používáš ji i za normálního provozu školy?
13. Ve kterém ročníku studuješ?
Appendix 2:
Dotazník pro učitele
Téma: Distanční výuka anglického jazyka na střední škole v ČR
Prosíme o vyplnění tohoto dotazníku, který slouží k zmapování situace distanční výuky
angličtiny na vaší škole.
1. Jaké metody, výukové materiály, způsoby hodnocení a způsoby komunikace používají
učitelé při výuce na dálku v době uzavření škol? (aplikace, platformy, nástroje, LMS)
2. Které z těchto zkušeností by bylo vhodné využívat i nadále v rámci běžného provozu škol?
3. Jaký potenciál vidíte v online, smíšené (hybridní) výuce do budoucna? (hledisko personální
- potenciál učitelů, morální, zdravotní, možnosti technické, finanční...)
4. Vidíte v DiV postupnou ztrátu motivace a sociální vyzby? Pokud můžete, prosím odpověď
více rozvést.
5. Je škola v nějakém národním nebo mezinárodním online programu (dříve pojem družba,
nebo e-Twinning)? Jak ho škola / studenti využívají?
6. Na jakých prioritách v rámci DiV se učitelé dohodli? Nebo je vedení školy určilo?
7. Má vedení školy, respektive učitelé představu o řešení situace, kdy žáci budou po návratu
do školy na rozdílné úrovni (s ohledem na různou míru zapojení do DiV)?
8. Účastníte se DVPP programů nebo jiných kurzů? Pomáhají vám ve vašem kariérním růstu,
jsou využitelné v praxi?
9. Jaký podíl studentů udržuje online komunikaci se svými učiteli a jakými způsoby je
udržován kontakt s žáky, kteří z různých důvodů online nejsou?
10. Zapojili se někteří studenti do nějaké dobrovolnické činnosti v průběhu uzavření škol?
11. Jak celkově hodnotíte náročnost výuky na dálku oproti standartní prezenční výuce (z
hlediska času, mentální náročnosti...)?
12. Jaká je Vaše nejoblíbenějš, nejpoužívanější webová stránka nebo aplikace za účelem DiV
angličtiny? Používáte ji i za normálního provozu školy?
13. Jaký předmět vyučujete?
Appendix 5: International Project ‘Nice to e-meet you!’ (certificates for most
engaged learners into international meetings were given)
Since March, the government has introduced further new and more stringent measures against the
spread of covid-19. Kindergartens and the first classes of primary schools were closed again. My younger sister also goes to the first grade, so she has been in online classes since the beginning of March. In the morning my mother learns with her, in the afternoon I do homework with her.
Sometimes it's very difficult because it doesn't hold attention, but I enjoy tutoring, so I like to do it.
Another measure was the closure of the boundaries of districts and municipalities. I thought I wouldn't
mind and I would last three weeks, but after the first week I felt a certain "lack of freedom". I am a very active person, so I still do sports or participate in various projects. It never occurred to me that I couldn't leave town, but I had to respect the rules.
Appendix 7: Generally recommended and used application programs and
activities, with internet links
Worksheets https://en.islcollective.com/login
Reading, Listening,
Grammar
https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/
Kahoot! https://kahoot.com
Songs https://lyricstraining.com/
For asynchronous
learning, for individual
work
https://agendaweb.org/
https://www.helpforenglish.cz/
https://www.duolingo.com
https://www.allthingsgrammar.com/
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