Distance Learning in Preparing Primary School Teachers During a Pandemic

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has affected all areas of education, including teacher training. Therefore, teacher training faculties had to deal with this unexpected situation very quickly. This affected both students and teachers. The research survey includes two institutions preparing future teachers of primary schools – one in the Czech Republic and one in Vietnam. The research group consists of pre-service primary teachers and academic staff who prepares them. The result shows that the shortcomings or disadvantages of online teaching were similarly evaluated by students in the items such as poor personal contact with the teacher and low physical activity. Notable and very different was the evaluation of the item change of methods and forms of teaching. From the teachers’ perspective, a notable fact is that the disadvantages of online teaching were perceived similarly by both cultures. On the other hand, the effectiveness of online teaching was perceived with a slight difference of opinion.