engleski

Usage Level of the Internet and Its Applications (Faculty of Economics in Osijek - Case Study)

Knowledge is today one of the fundamental levers of development. Knowledge management is the capability of active formation and creation of one's immediate and wider environment. By mastering the process of knowledge management we open up the possibilities of initiating the spiral of new knowledge creation. Information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly the Internet and its applications, increase the volume, speed and accessibility of information, while eliminating the obstacles of space and time. The skill of finding the required information, its careful selection and evaluation, as well as the skill of acquiring new knowledge, is the precondition of survival on the global market. The increasingly dominant and infrastructurally positioned body of knowledge in economics requires a new structure of this knowledge. In today's economics, knowledge does not create only products or new business opportunities ; rather, it is a critical framework for developing applicable scientific information. In today's world, companies demand applicable solutions to the problems in their environment. The central goal of university reform in the Republic of Croatia is the transition towards an integrated, competent, research-orientated and efficient higher education, with accredited programmes and institutions. The Bologna process in the new education structure for economists (undergraduate and graduate studies, specialist graduate studies, doctoral studies) requires continuous monitoring, adapting, updating, innovation and transparency of the devised model of education. Estimating the usage level of the Internet and its applications is part of the project following the implementation of the Bologna process in the education of economists at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek. In this case study the survey method was used. The survey was conducted on a representative sample of students at the Faculty of Economics in Osijek. The research was structured around two surveys conducted at the beginning of winter semester (incoming survey) and the end of winter semester (outgoing survey) in the academic year 2006/2007. The research was carried out by means of a student survey, comprising general questions on the Internet itself, computer literacy, and the Internet usage among female and male third year students. Our survey included 80 students of both sexes in the programme of Marketing Management and 80 students of both sexes in the programme of Financial Management. The total size of the sample was 160 respondents. The starting point was the incoming survey at the beginning of the academic year 2006/2007 with students of Marketing Management and Financial Management programmes in the course Management Information Systems. During the winter semester the students were encouraged through lectures, seminars, exercises and workshops to use the Internet and its applications in all the segments of the learning process. The outgoing survey at the end of the winter semester provided the indicators on the Internet usage by students. The results show that the Marketing Management students are more active users of the Internet, whereas in the overall sample male students are more active users than female students. As for male students in the whole sample, those studying Marketing Management showed a higher level of Internet usage. All the respondents in our survey indicated that they do use the Internet at least occasionally. There is a considerable difference between students in these two study programmes: the ratio of those who use the Internet « ; very frequently» ; in Marketing Management and Financial Management is 42% : 33% . The results show that 42% of female students in the Marketing Management programme use the Internet « ; little» ; , 39% use it « ; frequently» ; , and 6% of female students who « ; do not use the Internet» ; indicate there is some space for intervention, which was the aim of this study.

Internet; applications; Faculty of Economics in Osijek

nije evidentirano