7 │ CHANGES IN THE ORGANISATION OF DISTANCE LEARNING Distance learning in basic and upper secondary schools in the Czech Republic 42 7 CHANGES IN THE ORGANISATION OF DISTANCE LEARNING In accordance with the aforementioned methodological recommendation for distance learning issued by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, the organisation of online distance learning can be seen as consisting of the “synchronous” part and the “asynchronous” part. Standard lessons of synchronous learning take place in a video conferencing system, where pupils and usually also the teacher sign in. In contrast, asynchronous learning consists in the fulfilment of educational duties by pupils at a time of their choice, without the teacher’s presence. As early as the spring of the previous school year some teachers found that synchronous learning is much more effective if it involves a smaller number of pupils and if its length corresponds to the pupils’ age or, more precisely, to their ability to pay attention. The aforementioned Methodological Recommendation of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports also states a suitable extent of synchronous learning. For these reasons, but also for the reasons mentioned in the previous chapter, the timetable for online distance learning in the period after the beginning of the 2020/2021 school year was modified in many schools so as not to be a mere clone of the in-class learning timetable but to take into account the specific situation and possibilities of distance learning. In the spring period of the previous school year, regular learning took place every day in fewer than half of basic schools, while after a year of experience with distance learning, online distance learning takes place regularly in almost all schools on a regular basis every day. In basic schools, reductions mostly applied to education in development-focused subjects, but often also in other subjects. On the other hand, in upper secondary schools, education based on the timetable was significantly represented, which, however, can hardly be effective. A common argument for maintaining the timetable so that pupils do not have to become accustomed to another timetable is understandable, but it in no way offsets the problems caused by online distance learning based on the timetable. CHART 19 | Proportion of schools according to the change in the representation of subjects in the distance learning timetable (a timetable without reduction of extent in relation to the curriculum means teaching all subjects in an arrangement other than that based on the in-class learning timetable) Distance learning based on the timetable for in-class learning does not always mean only synchronous learning. It is often about 50% of synchronous learning, with the remaining learning being asynchronous. Nevertheless, the proportion of schools, especially upper secondary schools, teaching many lessons synchronously is high. For basic schools, there has been some reduction in the proportion of schools that teach without a reduction in subjects; in the spring period of the previous school year it was about 14%, while at present it is less than 10%. 3%4%29%23%50%5%7%10%6%59%42%52%46%44%22%29%5%13%11%18%5%18%0 %10 %20 %30 %40 %50 %60 %70 %80 %90 %100 %neúplné ZŠ úplné ZŠ gymnáziamaturitní SOŠnematuritní SOŠrozvrh pro prezenční výukung rozvrh bez redukce rozsahu vzhledem k učebnímu plánuredukována výuka výchov nebo odborný výcviks or vocational training redukována výuka výchov a dalších předmětů mimo profilovýchcelkově redukovaná výuka 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% timetable for in-class learninon-Maturita STSs Maturita STSs secondary general schools complete BSsincomplete BSs reduced learning in development-focused subjectgenerally reduced learningtimetable without reduction of extent in relation to curriculum reduced learning in development-focused and other subjects except profile subjects