Distance Learning and the Home Schooling in the Czech Republic

Legislation in the Czech Republic like in many other countries allows parents to educate their children at home in the form of 'home schooling'. In this form of education children are taught by their parents. This education is primarily based on the use of printed materials. Electronic materials tend to be used only as supplements to more traditional teaching methods, despite the fact that home schooling is a perfect platform for e-learning. This paper presents a case study of the first school in the Czech Republic that provides distance education in the form of e-learning for Czech and Slovak home schoolers. Children enrolled at this school not only have the chance to use traditional and electronic learning materials, they can also consult on questions and queries with their teachers online. The paper discusses the legislative frame in which this sort of distance learning is set and looks at the different learning methods and techniques, the methods used to assess students, and makes a current evaluation of the whole process. Attention is paid to the e-learning environment and different forms of e-learning support that this school provides to its pupils and their parents. The project presented here in the form of a case study is an innovative example of good practice showing how e-learning and distance learning can be used efficiently with children of primary school age, i.e. an age group among whom distance education is not usual. Distance education is a solution not only for parents interested in home schooling but also for parents of gifted children and children with health disabilities. It enables the provision of centralised support, i.e. one centre can provide teaching to children that are very distant from each other. The school we present here provides e-learning support to about one-quarter of Czech home schoolers. We believe that the practices of the school described in this paper could serve as a good model for other schools in different parts of the world and be a valuable source of information for researchers interested in e-learning aimed at children of primary school age.