PRIMARY FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH ON ICT LITERACY EDUCATION PUPILS’ AND TEACHERS’ ICT COMPETENCIES IN PRIMARY AND LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOLS

In 2012 and 2013, the authors of this paper worked on the Czech Science Foundation Project - Information Technology Competencies of Children and Their Development in Primary and Lower Secondary Schools. This article briefly reports on this project focused on examining the current state, structure and trends in development of ICT literacy education in Czech primary (ISCED 1) and lower-secondary schools (ISCED 2). 1,183 schools (ICT teachers) and 2,507 pupils joined the project. It presents the key findings of the research in particular issues including characteristics and thematic units of educational ICT activities, pupils´ information technology skills development and implementation of ICT competencies into educational activities. The research follows up on a similarily orientated project realized in 2006, in which the relevant data was obtained from 930 schools and it seeks to update and compare these research findings

Responses of Private and Public Schools to Voucher Funding: The Czech and Hungarian Experience

A state monopoly in schooling followed the collapse of communism in Central Europe. The centrally planned system was abandoned. Systems comparable with educational voucher scheme, also known as school choice system, were introduced in the Czech Republic and Hungary in the early 1990s. The newly established system of school financing allocates public funds according to the number of students enrolled in a school. Accredited non-state schools, private and religious, are also eligible for public subsidies. The scope and the form of these reforms represent a unique opportunity to test conflicting hypotheses of proponents and opponents of the voucher scheme. In this empirical analysis, we test fundamental theoretical predictions of the voucher model. Specifically, we test: i) whether non-state schools are established at locations where the supply of educational opportunities provided by state schools is low or of low quality, ii) whether state and non-state schools in such a system respond to changes in demand for education, and iii) whether state schools respond to competition from non-state schools. We use detailed school level data on the whole population of schools and data on regional conditions. In our econometric model we estimate education value added, instead of relying on absolute quality of school graduates. We find that non-state schools emerge at locations with excess demand and lower quality state schools. We also find that greater competition from non-state schools creates incentives for state schools with the result that state schools slightly improve the quality of educational inputs used and significantly improve their output, quality of graduates. As concerns the technical schools, we find that non-state schools react to regional labor market conditions in terms of technical branch premium and unemployment rate. We do not find such reactions to market signals by state schools. We introduce this analysis with a review of non-state schools' development in the Czech Republic and Hungary during the 1990s.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39744/3/wp360.pd

Local Authorities and Communicators Engaged in Science: PLACES Impact Assessment Case Study of Prague

Regional aspects of science communication represent a potential asset and as such are quite suitable topic for further examination with respect to future social and economic development in Prague based on the city's main development strategies. Closer analysis of SCIP aspects at re- gional level can present a suitable complement for development of suitable measures and projects of the regional innovation and education policies. This study focuses on research questions related to regional dimension of science communication, its impacts and suitable tools. Document analysis and questionnaire distributed among selected experts were chosen as tools for elaboration of the study. Results suggest that regional dimension of science communication policy and initiatives is a relevant one in case of Prague. However, the attention given to this topic by national and regional authorities is unsatisfactory resulting in lack of co-ordination of activities of the respective stakeholders. Impacts of SCIP, as far as causality can be identified, lie in encouraging young people in their interest in science, increasing awareness of general public in science-related issues and explaining role of science in society and problems that science is facing. To maximise effects of science communication there is a space for national and regional authorities to play an integrating role. Given the concentration of SCIP actors, the City of Prague could aspire to develop its science communication policy in order to promote itself as a Central European centre of science

Development of an analysis of swimming techniques using instrumentation and the development of a new measurement method at Brno University of Technology

This article provides an overview of the development of measuring methods and instrumentation for the analysis of swimming techniques around the world, and describes in more detail the Tachograph method used in BUT (Brno University of Technology), including information about the currently developed method for measuring the swimmers using accelerometers. Our aim is to present a comprehensive view of the issue and describe the direction of the current development of measurement techniques used in swimming. The article further describes in detail the physical nature of the measurement methods and discusses their pros and cons. In addition to conventional methods (speedometer, accelerometer), we also mention unconventional methods (CFD method, 3D motion analysis etc.). The main contribution of the paper is in highlighting new directions and methods of measurement in swimming, including a specific approach for the evaluation of swimming techniques at the Brno University of Technology (BUT), where the scientific team at the Center of Sports Activities (CESA) has for several years developed and refined a tachograph measuring method with synchronous underwater video recording of swimmers. This method was used with swimmers from the Czech national swimming team and from Czech sports secondary schools as part of ongoing research and efforts towards more accurate measurements. Finally, the article describes current developments in measuring methods done at BUT using accelerometers