Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Primary Education – A Case Study of the Czech Republic

The aim of this research study is to explore the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in classes at the first stage of primary schools, specifically in the Czech Republic. Firstly, the authors discuss the current state of this research issue, and secondly, they describe their own research which should clarify how, why and how often the teachers at the first stage of primary schools use ICT in their teaching. The findings indicate that although more than 50% of the teachers at primary schools use ICT in their teaching on a daily basis, they need further continuous methodological training which would contribute to their effective use of ICT in classrooms. The results also showed that the teachers who had participated in a methodological course on ICT use appeared to implement ICT in their classes more than those who had not attended such training. In addition, the results revealed that the use of ICT was not influenced by the length of the teaching practice and that the use of ICT still did not have any impact on the relationship between the teacher and his/her pupils and among pupils themselves. Nevertheless, the results suggest that there should be ample and continuous trainings which would ensure that teachers have relevant competences for using ICT in their classrooms