Distance learning

Distance learning is a form of teaching and learning in which the physical presence of students and teachers is not achieved, but rather the teaching and learning process takes place in a virtual environment with the support of digital technologies.

The Remote Learning page presents systems, tools, and content that, given their functionalities, can support learning and teaching in a virtual environment, whether it be blended learning and teaching or remote learning.

The process of planning distance learning begins before the final selection of systems, tools, or content, but in order to select the most suitable system for conducting distance learning, a specific tool, or content, it is necessary to know their main features in order to fully realize all planned activities.

On this page, you can find out how to choose the most suitable technological solutions to fully support your plan for distance learning, how to access and use them, and get further information about teaching in a virtual environment. 

Webinar

For all those who wish to acquire, improve, or refresh their competencies in designing and implementing teaching in a virtual environment or a blended model of classroom and distance learning, we have prepared a series of webinars that took place in the fall of 2021. 

If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording afterwards by clicking on the title of the held webinar in the table. 

Name	Description	Date and time of event	Presentation
Learn digitally with e-Schools content	The webinar is intended for all teachers of general subjects in the upper grades of primary school and secondary schools, who are looking for new ideas for applying digital technology and proven digital educational content suitable for students. The wealth of available digital educational content presents new challenges for teachers, so at the webinar we will cover topics such as: Which digital educational content to use, where to find it? How to choose quality and reliable digital educational content for your students?	September 23rd at 1 PM	Learn digitally with e-Schools content
e-Schools digital learning and teaching content in my teaching	The content is intended for students, specifically e-Schools digital educational content and interactive content for interdisciplinary topics, as well as content intended for teachers, i.e., e-Schools teaching scenarios. Practical examples of teaching activities that include the use of these contents in selected subjects – English Language, Sociology, and Politics and Economics, will help you in applying these contents. The webinar is primarily intended for subject teachers but also for all interested educational staff in schools.	September 28th at 1 p.m.	e-Schools digital learning and teaching content in my teaching
MS Teams – Get Ready, Set, Teams Are Here	Are you looking for information on how to ensure and monitor the progress of teaching in different teaching models? Are you unsure how to create teams or whether you need to delete them at the end of the school year? Are you interested in basic team editing – adding members, adding team owners? Hidden settings in the MS Teams app that you might not have known about, which are exactly what will make your daily online teaching easier? How to control students in classes conducted via the MS Teams application?	November 7th at 1 PM	MS Teams – Get Ready, Set, Teams Are Here
Challenges of implementing action research in schools	This is a webinar in which you will review the basics of implementing action research, learn about previous examples of research related to digital technologies in Croatia, and see what the most common challenges are in implementing action research in schools. Join the webinar and learn more about the action research methodology, what the implementation of action research looked like on CARNET's School 2.0 project during distance learning in the spring of 2020, what obstacles exist in implementing quality action research, and what (proven) recipes for successful implementation there are.	November 12 at 1 PM
Five Digital Tools from the e-Laboratory for Innovative Teaching	e-Laboratorij is a portal where users can find all information about tools, systems, and applications for use in e-learning. The e-Laboratorij portal is involved in researching, testing, and selecting available digital tools for use in teaching and other school processes (extracurricular activities, teacher professional development, specific areas of school operations, etc.). As such, e-Laboratorij is a true treasure trove of digital tools at your disposal for researching and discovering valuable tools that can greatly contribute to your teaching, as well as in numerous other opportunities. To make it a little easier for you to find interesting tools, our manager and editor of the e-Laboratorij portal has selected five interesting tools for you that will enrich your teaching and bring a dose of innovation. Therefore, don't miss the opportunity to hear something about e-Laboratorij, but also about the tools we have chosen for you.	November 13th at 1 PM
Two-way communication in a virtual environment	Virtual environments present various challenges for communication and collaboration, both in synchronous and asynchronous settings. The webinar will discuss how to overcome these challenges, meaning how to achieve effective communication with students in the context of online and blended learning. Examples of using simple digital tools to provide students with effective feedback on their work will also be presented.	November 19 at 1 PM	Two-way communication in a virtual environment
Informative on the implemented network infrastructure	This informative webinar will present the status of project activities and the equipping of the school with modern network equipment, from the construction status of the passive network infrastructure to the implementation of active network equipment. The webinar is intended for teachers who wish to familiarize themselves with the implemented equipment within the e-Schools program (beginners), as well as for other interested participants who want to learn more.	November 21 at 1 PM	Informative on the implemented network infrastructure
Support creative teaching with multimedia and interactive content for the Croatian language	In the webinar, we will aim to help you apply high-quality and reliable digital content in your teaching activities and enable active learning for your students. Join us and get to know e-Schools DOS, e-Schools teaching scenarios, interactive content for cross-curricular topics, e-lectures, and radio dramas produced by HRT. The webinar is intended for teachers of Croatian language in higher grades of elementary school and high schools.	November 4th at 1 PM	Support creative teaching with multimedia and interactive content for the Croatian language
Alice in TikTok Land (Social Media Safety)	Do you consume social media daily and have you noticed your students do too? As they are used for numerous purposes today and are a source of a large amount of data, social media are becoming a useful tool for cyber attacks. In this webinar, you will learn how cybercriminals exploit social media for malicious activities and how you can become the best defense, for yourself and your students. Dive with us into the world of TikTok and other social media, where we will reveal all the secrets of their safe use. Through education, we can raise awareness about social media safety together, but like any adventure, the first step needs to be taken.	November 9th at 1 PM	Alice in TikTok Land (Social Media Safety)
Learning through play	You are a teacher and sometimes feel like you're not motivating your students enough? Regardless of the content and difficulty of the material, it's a special challenge to design a lesson that is productive while simultaneously encouraging students to actively participate and acquire knowledge through their own thinking and research. In the webinar „Learning Through Play,“ we will present a simple and engaging tool called Puzzel, which is used to create and play various types of educational games and puzzles. It is a tool that is very easy to use and does not require prior knowledge, only good will and a dose of creativity. The different types of educational games and puzzles that are part of this tool allow its application in all areas and forms of teaching. Since they are mostly already well-known games (puzzles, memory games, crosswords...), students do not need additional instructions to solve the puzzles you set for them.	November 11 at 10 AM
Virtual Identity Protection	We are taught about politeness, courteous behavior, and rules of conduct from a young age, but to what extent and in what ways do we apply what we've learned when using the internet? Rules of online conduct have become particularly relevant with the emergence of the pandemic and the shift of a large part of daily activities into cyberspace. In the first part of the webinar, we will go over the basic rules of conduct and how to implement them for acceptable and safe communication, with the aim of conducting quality teaching and facilitating the online learning process. In the second part of the webinar, we will initiate a thinking process about your digital footprint. It's easy to erase a mistake in a notebook with an eraser, press Delete on your keyboard, or simply throw away something that is no longer needed. But what happens to a photograph or information that can no longer be deleted, destroyed, or forgotten? How aware are we of the traces we leave online, what purpose do they serve, and how can we use them to shape a positive self-image? Show your students how their digital footprint can be an ally in their educational journey.	November 16th at 1 PM	Virtual Identity Protection
Everything still smells like Teamsters.	After getting acquainted with the basics of one of the most popular applications of the last two years in the previous webinar, the time has come for some new secrets that will take your Teams skills to new and more advanced levels. CARNET experts are responsible for providing support for the Office 365 service so that users in schools can use it as effectively as possible. In this webinar, they will demonstrate Teams add-ins that will be useful for all educators, regardless of the subject they teach. This time, they will delve into the “most secret” parts of Teams. You may not have dared to ask, but many secrets about Teams will be revealed. We hope that after this webinar, nothing will be the same, and you will be fully prepared to use MS Teams and thereby improve your teaching and instruction.	November 23rd at 1 PM	Everything still smells like Teamsters.

The advice for principals, teachers, and educators, as well as parents and students, found on this website is based on real experiences gathered through research conducted by CARNET from March to July 2020.

These tips do not cover all aspects of distance learning, but rather focus on key elements that have proven crucial in conducting classes in an online environment. For a comprehensive overview, it is necessary to study the instructions from the Ministry of Science and Education and rely on your own knowledge and experience, considering the specifics of each school.

 

The following document contains information about the possibilities and recommendations for implementing specific types of teaching activities using the internet and with the support of digital technologies, in accordance with the different internet connection speeds that users (teachers and students) have in their homes.

To use CARNET's services, you need an electronic identity in the form of @skole.hr in the AAI@EduHr system.

Individual users receive an electronic identity within their institutions, which enables user authentication for various CARNET services and is essential for exercising the right to use them.

In the school, the electronic identity for students and teachers is created by a directory administrator. A list of administrators you can contact to create an electronic identity is available at the following link. 

You can check the validity of your @skole.hr user account at the following link.  

Online learning management systems (LMS) offer a range of solutions for organizing and implementing distance learning. Depending on the specific system, each one has integrated functionalities necessary for establishing a virtual learning and teaching environment.

Find out more about each of the following systems to learn how to choose the system that best fits your plans for conducting distance learning:

Loomen

Loomen is CARNET's version of the Moodle learning management system and offers a comprehensive solution for organizing and implementing distance learning with numerous tools integrated into the system itself.

Microsoft Teams

The Microsoft Teams system is part of a suite of services Office 365 offers you simplicity in forming group and individual communication channels via video, audio, and chat, as well as connecting with others Office 365 services for storing and sharing data.

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a learning management system and part of the Google Workspace for Education service. With its simple and intuitive interface and possible integration with Google Docs, it facilitates the organization and implementation of teaching in a virtual environment.

Yammer

Yammer is one of the social networking services within the Office 365 suite of services that allows communication through group posts or private messages, as well as posting and sharing files. Given its features, Yammer, unlike other more robust distance learning systems, does not support functionalities found in other systems that can contribute to the comprehensive organization and management of remote learning.

Office 365

Office 365 is a suite of services that enables teachers, educators, and students to create and share content, as well as communicate with each other, from anywhere and on any device.

The service can be used from your own computer, mobile phone, or a school computer. You can install Microsoft Office on your computer and use it when there is no internet connection.

This service includes tools like Microsoft Excel, Word, and Outlook, as well as advanced tools such as OneDrive (for cloud file storage), Microsoft Teams (for online collaboration and video conferencing), and OneNote Class Notebook (a classroom tool). Find out more about the tools available with this service on the page Office 365. 

Google Workspace for Education

The service allows users to access Google's applications for remote learning and collaboration using their @skole.hr user account. It includes Gmail email, Google Drive (for cloud document storage) which provides access to online collaboration applications such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, the Hangouts application (for text messages, audio and video calls), and the Google Classroom platform which contains tools for remote learning.

Adobe Connect

Remote collaboration can be achieved through web conferencing and webinars. Adobe Connect allows participation in webinars, meetings, tests, classes, and remote training. Options available include a whiteboard, chat, sharing screen content, windows, or individual applications, audio and video transmission, polls, and various other features.

Google Meet (formerly Hangouts Meet)

Google Meet is communication software developed by Google and is part of the Google Workspace for Education suite. It enables audio and video communication and content sharing that can support teaching in a virtual environment. Google Meet can serve as one of the tools for online teaching.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams, besides the ability to form group and individual communication channels and connect with other Office 365 services, is also designed for video communication. More information and instructions about MS Teams are explained in the module Online systems for organizing and conducting distance learning.

Edutorij

Edutorij is a repository of digital educational content, storing various types of digital educational materials: manuals, textbooks, books, required readings, workbooks, problem sets, online courses, educational games, teaching scenarios, lesson plans, and other education-related content created by teachers, students from Croatian schools, as well as experts from other educational institutions and publishing houses. In addition to other users, teachers and other school staff with an @skole.hr user account can upload content to Edutorij.

 On Edutorij, along with other content, are also stored e-Schools Digital Educational Content (DOS) i e-Schools Teaching Scenarios for various subjects and interdisciplinary topics from the 5th grade of primary school to the 4th grade of general high school. e-Schools DOS are reviewed multimedia teaching materials intended for students for independent learning, work at home or in class. e-Schools teaching scenarios represent reviewed instructions for teachers that help them in planning and realizing teaching based on the active role of students with the application of digital tools and content.

CARNET Meduza

CARNET Meduza is a service for distributing and viewing educational and informative video content. One of the integrated services of the CARNET Meduza system is video portal Baltazar which contains the entire pedagogical educational program of Zagreb Film. More than 790 video materials are published on the Portal, classified into 13 categories. 

Within the CARNET Meduza service, in the section Listening room, This is a selection of 100 radio drama broadcasts. All content is intended for the development of media culture and literacy, and for familiarization with the achievements of radio drama as an art form. It primarily supplements the existing teaching materials in this segment of Croatian language and literature classes in primary and secondary schools.

It is available to educational and academic institutions, as well as individual CARNET users. To view protected content, you need to log in with your @skole.hr account credentials.. 

e-Lectures

The e-Lektire portal contains complete works by Croatian and foreign authors from the required school reading list and beyond. Access to the content is free and available to students and teachers using an @skole.hr user account, as well as to all interested individuals upon registration of an e-Lektire user account.

Nikola Tesla Portal

The Nikola Tesla National Distance Learning Portal is a system for learning and teaching using digital educational content.

On the portal are digital educational content from mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry and English language for secondary schools, ECDL modules for self-study and practice for obtaining a basic computer literacy diploma, and courses on tools and the application of technology in education.

Please note that the content is made in Flash and is adapted for use on a personal computer, but not on tablets. 

Video lessons for use in teaching

School portal.hr

School portal.hr It is a central place for the exchange of knowledge, news, and information about the Croatian education system and for the publication of texts in the field of contemporary education. 

OneNote Class Notebook

Class Notebook is a tool that helps teachers create and set up a digital subject notebook, and share teaching materials, worksheets, quizzes, etc. with students. It enables collaboration between teachers and students, as well as collaboration among students on class projects, sharing assignments, and providing students with quick and easy feedback.

E-laboratory 

e-Laboratorij is a portal that provides all information about tools, interactive content, and applications for use in e-learning.

Webinar

For everyone who wants to gain, improve, or renew their competencies in designing and implementing teaching in a virtual environment or in a blended model of classroom and distance learning, we have prepared a series of webinars that will be held during September and October 2020. 

In the table, you can also find the webinar schedule. Before selecting a webinar to participate in from the table, please log in to the application. EMA. By registering for EMA after attending the webinar, you are also entitled to a certificate of participation. 

If you missed the webinar, you can watch the recording afterwards by clicking on the title of the held webinar in the table. 

Webinar (Title)	Date of event
How to plan and manage distance learning in schools (in times of uncertainty)?	September 9, 2020, at 12 p.m.
Organization and implementation of teaching in a virtual environment	September 10, 2020, at 1 PM
Planning and Teaching in Online and Blended Instruction	September 18, 2020 at 12 PM
Navigating Loomen	September 17, 2020 at 1 PM
Creating a virtual classroom and organizing lessons in Loomen	September 24, 2020, at 1 PM
Supporting students through effective collaboration, communication, and feedback	September 25, 2020, at 1 PM
Communication, Monitoring, and Evaluation in Lumina	October 10, 2020, at 1:00 PM
Teaching Methods in Online and Classroom Environments – Teaching as Dialogue	10/8/2020 at 1 PM

Below you will find answers to questions users asked during each webinar.

Webinar descriptions

W1: How to plan and manage distance learning in schools (in times of uncertainty)

We have witnessed unprecedented school closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic. According to UNESCO data, more than a billion students worldwide at various levels of education were affected. In Croatia, distance learning took place during the time schools were closed. What have we learned, what are the research findings, and what experiences can we apply in the future? What recommendations should principals rely on when planning and managing distance learning (or blended learning) for the next school year?

W2: Organization and delivery of teaching in a virtual environment

This webinar is intended for all teachers who want to gain new, as well as improve existing, experience in organizing and conducting classes in a virtual environment. We will reflect on specific problems and challenges in the traditional (and virtual) classroom and suggest how to use the virtual environment to solve them. We will describe the process of designing activities in a virtual environment, choosing teaching models, as well as digital technologies and tools to support the learning and teaching process.

W3: Planning and Teaching in Online and Blended Learning

In the webinar “Planning and Teaching in Online and Blended Learning,” we will present the process of planning online or blended teaching through the selection of the most appropriate teaching strategies and methods, and the design of activities for achieving learning outcomes using specific digital tools and platforms.

W4: Navigating Loomen

This webinar is intended for teachers and educators who are already using or will soon be using CARNET's Loomen for conducting distance learning. This is an introductory webinar where we will explain how CARNET's Loomen is organized, how to log in to the system, and how you can use it in the most suitable way for conducting fully online or blended learning. The successful delivery of teaching will depend on how courses are structured in Loomen at the school level and which activities and resources are used within the courses. In the webinar, you will see an example of a well-structured and poorly structured course so that you have a model for your own courses.

W5: Creating a Virtual Classroom and Organizing Instruction in Loomen

This webinar is intended for teachers and educators who are currently using or will be using CARNET's Loomen for remote teaching. This is the second webinar in a series where you will learn the steps you need to take to create a course in Loomen that will best support remote teaching in your school, whether you plan to conduct it entirely online or in a blended format.

W6: Supporting Students through Effective Collaboration, Communication, and Feedback

This webinar is intended for teachers and other interested participants who want to learn more about how to achieve effective communication and collaboration with students in the context of online and blended learning, and how to provide them with effective feedback on their work. Participants will go through examples of the advantages and disadvantages of communication and collaboration when using several widely available tools and systems, including Loomen, MS Teams, Yammer, Google Classroom, and videoconferencing tools.

W7: Communication, Monitoring, and Evaluation in Loomena

The third webinar in the Loomen series is aimed at teachers and educators who are currently using or will soon be using CARNET's Loomen for distance learning. After creating course content in Loomen, the time comes to conduct distance learning. In this course, you will learn how to communicate with students, track their activities, and evaluate them using Loomen's features.

W8: Teaching Methods in Online and Classroom Environments – Teaching as Dialogue

This webinar is intended for teachers, instructors, and educators interested in classroom relationships, particularly those related to successful reflection and communication with students. Based on research conducted during distance learning, action research with teachers, instructors, educators, and principals, and a questionnaire on distance learning, as well as personal research and teaching experience, various challenges and practical solutions related to the idea of teaching as a dialogue will be presented, both in the classroom and in distance learning.