Abstract:

The development of technology influences changes in how we live, work, communicate and learn. Market and technology development forces all companies or organization to re-evaluate their position, role, organization 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) eLearning usage and
(2) implementing an e-learning program.

In June 2015 a questionnaire was conducted in order to discover whether the instructors 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 organizational 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.

Keywords:

Information and Communication Technology, e-learning, teachers’ perception, students’ perception, education, opportunities, obstacles.