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The COVID-19 pandemic challenges all segments of society and calls for rapid and effective interventions in health-care system, business, the economy and the education system. In the context of higher education, the doctoral level is specific due primarily to its organizational and program characteristics. The goal of this paper is to assess the success of the implementation of consultation segment and teaching process at University North Postgraduate Doctoral Study in Media and Communication, which continued with the Program despite the situation in which the entire education system in Croatia migrated to distance learning practically in a day. The goal is also to show that digital competencies and skills of professors and students are key to the successful implementation of distance learning. Investing in mastering these skills and raising them to a higher level is the key to a successful education of the future. Such conclusion is confirmed by two key documents crucial for our research – UNESCO ICT Competency Framework for Teachers (2018) and especially Bologna Digital 2020 White Paper on Digitalisation in the European Higher Education Area (2019). The later emphasizes that Europe needs new directions and visions for a contemporary higher education in digital age. Digitalisation is therefore not just an extra challenge, but also an efficient tool capable of detecting the key challenges of 21st century higher education. The research utilizes an interview technique conducted by way of synchronous communication, via videoconference and telephone. Through videoconferencing, a semi-structured group interview method was implemented on a sample of 43 doctoral students divided into two groups. In the first group, which represents the first year of study, 23 doctoral students have participated in the interview. In the second group, which represents the second year of study, 20 doctoral students have participated. The semistructured individual interview method was conducted by telephone on a sample of five professors teaching at doctoral Program. Research results show that the situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic sped up certain processes in the areas of higher education that anyway desperately call for a change and are especially highlighted in the above mentioned documents. Research also points to the need for reorganization of doctoral study programmes, particularly in the context of methods and approaches to the research segment. Additional interventions are needed in transfer skills workshops planning, all aiming at the increase of scientific and technical information literacy of doctoral candidates. Furthermore, results show that certain ECTS generating obligations included in doctoral study programme (such as working visit to some foreign University) are made much easier precisely by to modern ICT technologies. Although the doctoral level of studying substantially differs from other two education cycles, it cannot be the justification for the fact that doctoral- level specific research of necessary digital adaptations is scarce. This work aims at filling the research void and offers guidelines for adjusting the doctoral level of studying to challenges and demands of digital age. We will also show that digital transformation changes not only the educational system, but also economic, cultural and social surrounding, which makes new/digital skills 'conditio sine qua non' for an active and fulfilling participation in this new reality.

Alternative educational concepts have evolved in response to classical educational methods in which children are placed in a passive position and the transfer of knowledge is cultivated as a form of teaching. Models of alternative pedagogy (Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio, Agazzi) advocate developmentally appropriate practices which Bredekamp [1] describes as a presence of different strategies, i.e., child-oriented behaviours of teachers and responding to the child's individual needs. In order to help each child to grow into a universal and competent individual from preschool age, it is necessary to encourage their imagination and creativity, as well as to acquire habits of cooperation and coexistence with other children. One of the activities which promote these desirable characteristics in children is handicraft. Many studies and findings in the area of neuroscience, multiple intelligences theories, and the aforementioned alternative pedagogical concepts emphasize the importance of handicraft and point out its benefits not only for children but for the entire community. However, such an approach to children's learning and activity is poorly represented in educational institutions. Therefore, the aim of the study was to examine the views of preschool teachers and parents on handicraft activities and its more frequent use in regular preschool programs. The survey was conducted by an anonymous questionnaire on a sample of 316 respondents, preschool teachers (N=141) and parents (N=175). The results of the study show that both preschool teachers and parents agree that certain elements of alternative concepts such as handicraft have a positive impact on the overall development of the child and that they are useful and practical life skills. They also agree that handicraft activities should be used in educational institutions to a greater extent.

In the context of Education and Development for Sustainable Development (ESD), there’s a numerous research that suggests that fostering biophilia is one of the ways to encourage eco- awareness, positive values and environmental behaviors toward environment, but also the formation of an ecologically responsible person, a sustainable citizen, and the successful implementation of ESD in educational Institutions and the community. Our attitude goes beyond the biophilia itself, as a sense of love for nature, plants and animals. We emphasize that the contact of children with nature is not only the area of creating eco- consciousness and more sustainable ways of living but also the foundation for the development of positive forms of emotions and behaviors that welfare of children during transition and their success. All transition periods in human lives are defines as rather challenging processes that are appear during movement from one environment to another, or from one identity to another. Shortly, they present the periods of intense change which are determined by very different factors: intra-personal and inter-personal factors and their mutual interactions. Contemporary ecological-dynamic model of transition emphasizes the importance of all these factors same as their interrelations over time as crucial determinants of children’s well-being. Final children’s successful adaptation directly depends on the complexity of the interactions between those factors. One of the contextual factors in the transition period from a family home to kindergarten and from it to school consists of relationships between home-school- peers-neighborhood. In this paper, we particularly want to highlight the importance and impact of environment, i.e. indirect and direct contact of children with the places/grounds and the environment. Studies show that early and direct children’s contact with/in nature, significantly affects their academic success and positive school-based stress management, which is often manifested only at later age. They also emphasize the importance and contribution of the design of educational institutions that possess the natural elements of biophilic design and biophilia on cognitive and emotional development of children. Based on this new theoretical approach, a number of research questions could be highlighted: whether children who are exposed and stimulated early in the creation of biophilia, better adapt during different transitions, especially when transitioning from home to kindergarten and from it to school? Is it possible to objectively measure the impact of contextual factors such as biophilia/biofobia experiences, the places/settings and the design for the transition processes of children? Since the influence of the family is a direct factor in children’s adaptation during transition over time, and influences the relations of the child to the places/setting and the environment, it is of utmost important to identify the feelings/attitudes of bilophilia/biophobia of parents and teachers, as well as factors which significantly more positively facilitate these transition processes, successful adaptation and the overall well-being of children.

During their educational practice preschool teachers encounter children, both with and without disabilities, who suppress their emotions, carry certain scars, and sometimes traumas of everyday life that they are not able to express verbally. Art- expressive therapies are one of the ways and means by which a child can express his emotions, thoughts, vision, fantasy, perception etc. Thus, it contributes to reducing anxiety and generally having a more comfortable stay in a preschool institution. Such a spontaneous, creative and syncretic expression involving different art media (music, art, dance, drama, poetry) with the possibility of reflecting the child's inner world and experience, also provides many other benefits and contributes to the child’s well-being and development. The aim of the study was to examine preschool teachers familiarity with the concept of art-expressive therapies and their awareness of therapeutic and transformative strength of different arts media for the child’s development. The online questionnaire with two subscales formed for the purpose of this research was conducted by preschool teachers from Zagreb, Croatia. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data processing. The results obtained indicate that most of the respondents are familiar with the concept and benefits of art-expressive therapies in the individual child’s development and they expressed their interest in further enhancing of their competences in this area as well. It was also revealed that there is no significant correlation between the respondent’s age and their work experience with these variables. The results of the conducted research indicate the need for further enrichment of preschool educational programs. It could be achieved by applying art-expressive therapies as an integrative, syncretic and multimodal form of communication and creative expression for continuous improvement of contemporary educational practice.

Having in mind the importance of the relationship between children and their preschool teachers, the research about the quality of its measurement should present one of the main research focuses in overall early and preschool care and education studies. Previous studies clearly demonstrated that positive and close relationships between children and teachers resulted with higher level of socio-emotional and cognitive development of children in a long run. On the other side, the child-teacher relationship that is full of conflicts and bad feelings very negatively influence on children learning outcomes and developed behavioural patterns. Generally, children mental health is significantly determined by these early relationships with significant others in the educational context. Therefore, it is very important to develop and validate the measures that could contribute to understanding and measurement of children-preschool teachers’ relationship. One of that measure is Student- Teacher Relationship Scale, short form (STRS ; Pianta, 2002). It is created with the purposes of measuring overall quality of the relationship between students (aged from 3 to 8) and their teachers. The relationship patterns that are originally should measure within the long form (28 items) are closeness, conflict and dependency. The short form is consisting of 15 items, which are measuring closeness (positive relationship) and conflict (negative relationship). In this study, after expert translation, STRS- short form has been applied in the sample of 161 preschool teachers who rated their relationship with the vulnerable preschool children, i.e. with the preschool children living in risk life conditions: children who are members of discriminated groups (i.e. Roma minority), children from the social care, children from the violent families, children from low stimulating families, children with developmental disabilities and special needs, and children from families with chronically ill member(s). The sample of preschool teachers was from different kindergartens in Primorsko- Goranska County in Croatia. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with extraction method Principal Components and Varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalization were run. EFA resulted with four factors, which explained 59.555% of total variance. However, when two factors were specified, CFA results were psychometrically satisfactory. So, CFA confirmed hypothesized two-factor structure of STRS and explained 44.487% of total variance (the first factor Conflict explained after rotation 22.315% and the second factor Closeness explained after rotation 22.172% of the total variance). Rotated component matrix showed the lowest loading of the items four (“This child is uncomfortable with physical affection or touch from me”) what should be taken into account in future studies. Determined reliability levels Cronbach alpha were satisfying: for Conflict subscale α = .766 and for Closeness subscale α = .804. The determined findings have discussed within the suggested guidelines for future research studies: applying adjustments in translation ; running focus groups with preschool teachers with the aim of creating culturally original STRS-items ; and the application of the long form of STRS scale.

The development of technology influences changes in how we live, work, communicate and learn. Market and technology development forces all companies or organisation to re-evaluate their position, role, organisation and application of information and communication technology. Since people and their knowledge are the key elements of every successful business and information system, the adoption and application of new knowledge and continuous education becomes the key elements of a company’s success. Consequently in this dynamic and technology rich environment the teaching and learning process falls under a strong pressure to change and adopt new technologies and business trends. E-learning has a numerous benefits in comparison with the classic classroom teaching. Introducing e-learning is complex process and involves different groups of participating students, teachers, faculties, universities, and firms. It requires not only the participants’ motivation, time and willingness but suitable infrastructure and strong coordination off all parties involved. The acceptance of e-learning in Croatia is at lower level in comparison with other developed countries in spite of the significant efforts made at several universities and faculties. Therefore it was imperative to collect more facts about teachers’ perception, attitudes, opportunities and obstacles towards e-learning, and compare them with students’ attitudes and perception towards e-learning at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, Croatia. The main goal of the paper was to explore: teachers’/professors’ and students attitudes towards (1) e-learning usage and (2) implementing an e-learning program. In June 2015 questionnaire was conducted in order to discover whether the professors are familiar with e-learning, its usage and possibilities. The questionnaire was emailed to 127 professors (assistant professors, associate professors and full professors) of the Faculty of Economics and Business Zagreb. Another questionnaire was sent to 1169 students of the same school. The results of these questionnaires have confirmed that majority of teachers and students have shown a positive attitude towards e-learning despite the lack of information about the benefits of e-learning with a large portion of students. Almost all of teachers and students agreed that e-learning is future of education. The results lead to the conclusion that significant efforts are necessary in order to make the students aware of possibilities and the benefits by which e-learning can improve their learning experience and existing curricula as well as develop new ones. Significant efforts must also be made at the institutional levels to support e- learning curriculum development and establishing proper technology and organisational infrastructures. The comparison of our results with those from similar research carried out in some other countries has given us additional motivation to strive more in fostering e-learning development.

Video has been recognized as an important mean for delivery of speech-language therapies, particularly when used in telepractice settings. It can be used in video conferencing setup for synchronous communication of the speech-language therapist and the patients, or employed as educational video artefacts which contain speech therapies that can be remotely accessed by patients at their convenient time. This paper discusses the design of educational videos for telerehabilitation of pediatric speech disorder (dyslalia) and presents results of a qualitative part of the pilot study. First, it presents how principles of multimedia learning were applied in the design of instructional videos aimed at the treatment of dyslalia. Second, it describes research results from empirical pilot study conducted with five children with dyslalia and their parents who used the videos. Quantitative data about the quality of the video design were collected from the parents by means of the post-use questionnaire and in this paper are briefly reported. The main emphasis of the paper is on presenting qualitative data about parents’ experiences, impressions and observation of interactions while employing videos with their children. Feedback gained from the interviews provides important insights into the interactions of children with video artefacts and suggests additional guidelines for designing online instructional videos aimed at preschool children who need speech-language treatments.