Search

The goal of this study is to investigate the current state of Croatian high-tech sector and to evaluate its prospects. The growth of the high-tech sector was greatly impeded by the economic crisis. Despite some progress in recent years, the analysed data suggest that the potential of Croatian high-tech industry has not been sufficiently exploited. The share of high-tech products in Croatian international trades is still low, with imports significantly exceeding exports. For years, the electronics and telecommunications industries have been Croatia’s largest high-tech export and import sectors. Lately, the leading high-tech exporter has been the pharmaceutical industry, while the imports and exports of computers and office machines have shown a downward trend. The data also indicate that research and development expenditures have increased substantially over the past several years. However, this is just one of the prerequisites for high-tech industry development. So far, Croatia has not provided an environment that encourages high-tech investments. There are many areas that need improvement for Croatian high-tech sector to become a generator of economic growth, such as creating a positive business and investment climate, stimulating flexible and innovative entrepreneurship, and building an education system capable of meeting the needs of the high-tech industry.

Reforma hrvatskog visokog obrazovanja bila je inicirana nužnošću podizanja njegove kvalitete i konkurentnosti, stavljanja sveučilišta, veleučilišta i visokih škola u funkciju bržeg ekonomskog i društvenog razvoja, te integracije cjelokupnog sustava u međunarodni obrazovni prostor. Intencija ovog rada bila je utvrditi kakvi su, u kontekstu poduzetih reformi, stavovi veleučilišnih studenata informatike o sustavu visokog obrazovanja, upisanom studiju i uvjetima studiranja. Istraživanjem se nastojala stvoriti informacijska podloga koja je neophodna za objektivnu ocjenu i prosudbu promjena koje su nastupile kao rezultat implementacije bolonjskog procesa. U radu su također ispitane razlike u percepciji između studenata informatike i njihovih kolega upisanih na ostale studije. Dobiveni rezultati pokazuju da veleučilišni studenti ne percipiraju sustav visokog obrazovanja, upisani studij i uvjete studiranja u dovoljnoj mjeri pozitivno, što ukazuje na potrebu njihovog daljnjeg preoblikovanja. Posebno je upozoravajući nalaz da su ocjene studenata upisanih na studije iz područja informatike uglavnom niže od ocjena ostalih studenata. Važnost ove studije proizlazi iz činjenice da su mišljenja hrvatskih veleučilišnih studenata o analiziranim pitanjima bila do sada zanemarena., The reform of the Croatian higher education was initiated by the need to increase its quality and competitiveness, to harness universities, polytechnics and colleges for the purpose of economic and social development, as well as to integrate the system as a whole into the international education space. Considering the reforms undertaken so far, the paper aims to establish the attitudes of polytechnic students in informatics on higher education system, the chosen course of study and study conditions. The research attempted to create an information base that is required for an objective assessment and evaluation of the changes brought about by the Bologna process implementation. Furthermore, the paper surveyed the differences in perceptions between students in informatics and their peers enrolled in other courses of study. The obtained results show that polytechnic students’ perception of the higher education system, the chosen course of study and study conditions is not sufficiently positive, which indicates they need to be revised and upgraded. It was especially alarming to find that the assessments of students enrolled in informatics programmes were generally lower than those of other students. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that opinions of the Croatian polytechnic students on the analyzed issues have so far been disregarded.

Računalna pismenost danas je esencijalna. Poglavito se od visokoobrazovanih osoba očekuje da posjeduju primjerena znanja i vještine iz područja korištenja informacijskih i komunikacijskih tehnologija (ICT). Polazeći od toga, u ovom su radu prezentirani rezultati istraživanja provedenog s ciljem utvrđivanja razine računalne pismenosti hrvatskih studenata. U analizi je poseban naglasak stavljen na ispitivanje razlika u računalnoj pismenosti između veleučilišnih i sveučilišnih studenata. Stoga su ključnu ulogu u analizi imale metode inferencijalne statistike. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da studenti svoje opće ICT kompetencije ocjenjuju relativno visokim ocjenama, a napredne oblike korištenja računala nižim ocjenama. Analiza je nadalje pokazala da sveučilišni studenti većim ocjenama ocjenjuju svoje osnovne računalne vještine, a veleučilišni studenti napredne. U okviru analize također su ispitane razlike s obzirom na spol i upisanu godinu studija. Budući da identificira područja računalne pismenosti koja je nužno unaprijediti, ovaj rad predstavlja podršku planiranju razvoja visokog obrazovanja. Nužno je naglasiti da dobivene rezultate treba uzeti s obzirom budući da ICT znanja i vještine nisu ispitane neposredno i u kontroliranim uvjetima, već su spoznaje o njima temeljene na samoprocjeni ispitanika., Computer literacy is essential in today's world. Particularly college and university graduates are expected to possess adequate knowledge and skills in using information and communication technologies (ICT). Starting from this premise, this paper presents the results of the research conducted in order to determine computer literacy levels among Croatian students. In the analysis special emphasis was given to examining the differences in computer literacy between polytechnic and university students. For this reason inferential statistics methods played a key role in the analysis. Research results have shown that students assess their general ICT competencies with relatively high grades, whereas advanced computer usage received lower grades. Furthermore, while university students gave higher grades to their general computer skills, polytechnic students gave higher grades to advanced skills. The analysis examined also the differences according to gender and year of study. Given that this paper identifies the areas of computer literacy that need to be improved, it can be viewed as support in planning the development of higher education. It should be noted, however, that the obtained results must be taken with a certain reserve, since ICT knowledge and skills were not examined directly in controlled conditions; rather, the insights given here are based on respondents' self-assessment.

U ovom su radu dani rezultati istraživanja čiji je cilj bio utvrditi s kojom svrhom i koliko učestalo hrvatski veleučilišni studenti koriste informacijske i komunikacijske tehnologije (ICT) u procesu učenja i obrazovanja. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 818 studenata upisanih na šest veleučilišta. U okviru analize podataka izračunati su pokazatelji deskriptivne statistike. S namjerom određivanja načina korištenja ICT, prema kojima se definirane skupine studenata najviše razlikuju, provedena je diskriminativna analiza. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da pojedine skupine studenata, a poglavito oni upisani na tehničke studije, intenzivnije koriste ICT. Istraživanje je također pokazalo da su neki aspekti upotrebe ICT među hrvatskim veleučilišnim studentima zanemareni. Značaj ovog rada proizlazi iz činjenice da u njemu analizirana pitanja, iako ključna za ocjenu postojećeg stanja i formuliranje strategije razvoja hrvatskog visokog obrazovanja, još uvijek nisu na odgovarajući način istražena. Stoga se dani rezultati mogu shvatiti kao podrška upravljanju razvojem tog sustava, ali također i kao temelj za buduće analize., The paper presents the results of the research aimed at establishing the purpose and frequency of using information and communication technologies (ICT) among Croatian polytechnic students in learning and education processes. The research was conducted on a sample of 818 students enrolled in six polytechnics. Within data analysis the descriptive statistics indicators were calculated. Discriminant analysis was conducted to determine the ways of ICT usage according to which the defined student groups differ the most. Research results indicate that certain student groups, especially those enrolled in technical studies, use ICT more intensively. Furthermore, the research revealed that some aspects of ICT usage among Croatian polytechnic students have been neglected. The significance of this paper arises from the fact that the issues analyzed therein, although crucial for current situation assessment and for formulating the Croatian higher education development strategy, have not been adequately investigated. The results presented here can therefore be viewed as management support to the development of this system, but also as a basis for future analyses.