Use of Internet resources and IT tools and characteristics of higher education institutions in Serbia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there is a statistically significant influence of characteristics of higher education institutions and scientific fields in which their study programs are accredited, on use of Internet resources and IT tools. The term 'use of Internet resources and IT tools' here refers to enhancing students' skills in use of internet resources, services and technologies on Internet, thus enabling them to create and place new content, services and technologies on the internet. This paper is based on data collected from 196 higher education institutions from Serbia, by a survey questionnaire. The research described in the paper was conducted in 2014. Data processing included a descriptive and correlative analysis. Based on this research, it can be concluded that there is a statistically significant influence of characteristics of higher education institutions on use of Internet resources and IT tools. Detailed research of the content of courses in higher education institutions that deal with internet and technologies surpasses the scope of this research and can be included in future research. This paper presents a new approach in research of influence of higher education institutions and their scientific fields' characteristics on use of Internet resources and IT tools in higher education. The results of this research can be used to improve educational strategies aiming to incorporate the internet use into the curricula of study programs in higher education institutions.