www.ijcrsee.com

143

Vesić, D., Laković, D., & Vesić, S. Lj. (2023). Use of Information Technologies in Higher Education From The Aspect of

Management, International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(1), 143-151.

Introduction

The education of young, highly educated personnel, that is, the education of students at faculties, as

well as the continuous education of employees in the information technology sector (training) in conditions

of long-term structural and nancial insecurity can be the main source of competitive advantages and one

of the strategic models for exiting the social crises. It is a well-established opinion that informatics and

of ICT enables young people, and above all students, who are being educated, greater independence and

a good basis for self-education and permanent education. This is precisely what indicates that even those

who are about to go on to university education will spend their entire working life and life in a permanent

relationship with information technologies. However, they should, already during the process of their

education, be trained for the effective application of new technologies that represent suitable teaching

Use of Information Technologies in Higher Education From The Aspect

of Management

Academician Dobrica Vesić

1*

electronic knowledge distribution channels that expand the effective level of general and specialist education. This trend is

also present in higher education because higher education institutions and institutes increasingly rely on the use of modern

information-communication technologies in their operations. The effects of the use of personal computers, the Internet and global

social networks are multiple in the higher education system as well. In the process of acquiring new knowledge, developing

creativity, as well as ensuring greater activity in the process of education, new learning technologies, with the use of multimedia

systems, created the prerequisites for the engagement of all individual and collective resources. The most important source

of the state’s competitive advantage is the ability to educate and retain highly educated personnel in the eld of information

technologies. From that aspect, the paper discusses information technologies as a scientic discipline and general conditions

for education in the eld of information technologies. The impact of technical and pedagogical changes on education in this

area is analyzed with particular attention. It is known that information technologies are suitable for vocational education, and

Keywords: information technologies, higher education, management, learning, knowledge.

Review Article

Received: February, 10.20223

Revised: March, 30.2023.

Accepted: April, 02.2023.

UDK:

37.091:004

37.091:005.51

10.23947/2334-8496-2023-11-1-143-151

© 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the

Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Corresponding author: vesicdobrica@gmail.com

www.ijcrsee.com

144

numerous theoretical discussions, the starting point is that traditional, mechanical, passive educational

processes, in which there are no transactions in teaching, should be greatly and radically reduced. Bearing

in mind that the computer has become a part of everyday life in the economy and in the domain of the

work process, as well as a part of everyday life in free time, in the household and in every other human

area, the question arises about its indispensable place in the innovation of education and its positioning

in that complex process, in general.

Modern educational processes for the outcome have an investment in human resources that is

protable for all economic and non-economic subjects. Especially in the conditions of general crises,

business entities are interested in organizing practical training of innovators and managers who, thanks to

system does not provide the appropriate competencies that are needed in modern conditions of frequent

and constant changes in the environment. From this aspect, the paper analyzes the role of education in

the eld of information technologies, in the time of constant changes and growing global competition, in all

segments of economic and social life. The dynamic and exponential development of ICT has conditioned

the increased role and importance of education in this area, and it is becoming more and more evident,

both in the world and in Serbia and the surrounding countries. However, in order to prepare pupils and

students for the dynamic conditions of modern business and the challenges of innovation, it is necessary

to change or improve the existing education system. Traditional methods and courses do not ensure the

effective application of acquired knowledge. Many experts, therefore, believe that a new approach is

needed in modern education, where the emphasis is placed on the acquisition of practically applicable

and development (the so-called clock speed industry). It also shortens the usage life cycle and improves

technology has decisive importance on the effectiveness of the education system and refers to numerous

techniques, methods and contents. For example, networking and the Web have become a critical basis

of computer technology, but also one of the most important pedagogical tools, leading to changes in the

concrete educational system, not only in computer science but also in other areas (Bernon, Rossi and

Cullen, 2011). In situations where we talk about the process of education and acquiring new knowledge,

that process has always ranged from traditional learning, learning through audio lessons, video lessons,

electronic learning, and distance learning, to today’s mobile learning. Professors and teachers, adapting

Therefore, new technologies greatly contribute to a new way of learning, because at every opportunity the

and in Serbia, as well as in the domain of the educational process. This technology is denitely the most

advanced technology that has been devised in the history of human civilization.

www.ijcrsee.com

145

Vesić, D., Laković, D., & Vesić, S. Lj. (2023). Use of Information Technologies in Higher Education From The Aspect of

Management, International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(1), 143-151.

Modern information and communication technologies, i.e. computer science, have inuenced all

segments of life and work, but also leisure time, methods and models by which the educational process

takes place at any level and the way in which new information is adopted. Precisely for this reason, it can

be considered that the information revolution is not only technological, but to a large extent sociological

and ethical (Bogdanović, 2010).

and their independent work is the basic characteristic of the basic process, which is greatly supported by

inuenced by technical, scientic and technological advances and innovations. Then, the introduction

of new approaches in the organization of educational content into the teaching process brings about

signicant changes. Major changes are taking place, such as the introduction and application of new

procedures, methods, techniques, means and media. Modern educational technologies have become

an integral part of the teaching process, with the tendency not only to improve the teaching process

but also to fundamentally change it. Multimedia, as a part of information technologies, is often used in

teaching, so it can be concluded that multimedia is an important feature of the modern education system.

Considering the fact that the centre of gravity of the teaching process has already begun to shift out (from

different ways of learning. In these theoretical frameworks, the importance of multimedia inuences and

semantically rich transfer of information lies in ensuring the possibility of self-realization, i.e. afrmation

of the needs of all students, which enables them to acquire new knowledge, develop abilities, acquire

skills, habits and form attitudes (Krneta, 2007). From the application aspect, many experts are in favour

of constantly innovating the knowledge of teachers, who should permanently acquire new knowledge,

understandings and approaches. In addition, under the inuence of ICT, it is desirable to set new attitudes

and a changed role in the education process. This means that more versatile forms of professional prole

and development are necessary because the prole of the educational process, in the Internet domain, is

well dependent on the latest information and communications technologies and the ability of educators to

understand and accept the “electronic alphabet” as the basis of a modern model of education.

www.ijcrsee.com

146

• Object-oriented programming,

• Human-computer interaction,

• Security,

• User domains

The above contents (as well as many others that will undoubtedly be introduced and developed in

the very near future) are the practical result of the extraordinary progress and expansion of the effective

practical help - concrete support for their business ideas. The training program for IT activities should be

aimed at acquiring knowledge and skills that will enable students to be:

• creative/innovative, highly motivated, self-aware, condent,

• communicative, courageous when making decisions, leaders-negotiators, managers,

• less dependent, ready to take risks, able to recognize opportunities

Under certain conditions and appropriate modication for the eld of IT, it is realistic to create

different programs for different groups of students with special reference to the following aspects of the

application of entrepreneurship (Lajović, 2011, p. 264):

• Entrepreneurship within business schools and economics studies focuses on business startups

and new venture creation and on the management and growth of SMEs. Students of economics learn to

area that provides an opportunity for advancement of the community;

• Entrepreneurship for the creative arts and design focuses on opportunities emerging through

creative working, preparing graduates to work as freelancers or self-employed people, or creating small

enterprises and ventures.

Respecting the existing differences between entrepreneurship as a general term and IT

entrepreneurship as a special term, it is possible to create an adequate plan of activities that would adapt

the elements mentioned above to new IT-specic content.

www.ijcrsee.com

147

Vesić, D., Laković, D., & Vesić, S. Lj. (2023). Use of Information Technologies in Higher Education From The Aspect of

Management, International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(1), 143-151.

upbringing and education, as one of the most important factors. After the initial difcult and unreliable steps,

market of electronic learning. The USA is a competitive market in electronic learning and education (the

experience that America, Canada and Australia have in this domain dates back to the eighties of the

nineteenth century). In modern conditions, electronic learning is quite a common phenomenon even at

the most famous faculties (Harvard, Stanford, MIT), which offer a wide selection of the most diverse

accredited academic courses in their virtual classrooms. The electronic form of distance learning has

phones, smartphones and tablets.

Typically, e-learning is described as learning “anytime, anywhere”, but with access to a computer

and an Internet connection. Mobile learning doesn’t need those connections. All the student needs is

a PDA or mobile phone and a wireless network (Vrhovac et al., 2017). Information technologies are

introduced into the curricula of higher education institutions. The College of Vocational Studies for

Information Technologies was founded in 2006 in Belgrade, and since 2017, in addition to the basic

vocational studies, accredited vocational master’s studies have been introduced, which train professional

information technology engineers. In this context, it can be stated that information technologies have

developed into a special scientic discipline. Dening the concept of information technology is not

simple, because it is believed that there is no universal denition of information technology. For example,

and social environment, through choice, creation, application, integration and administration of computer

largely oriented towards meeting the needs of users and that more and more attention is being paid to

problems related to security at all levels of the economy and society.

In the modern conditions of living and doing business, the interdependence of ICT and the study

of management as a scientic and business discipline is increasingly close because dynamic technical-

technological development directly imposes numerous changes that are increasingly present in every

www.ijcrsee.com

148

processes, and in interaction with it, employees perform their work tasks (Vesić, 2022).

the following types according to their purpose (Jovičič, Đokić and Stanić, 2018):

(1) MIS (Management Information System) for management support based on the automation of

report creation,

(2) DSS (Decision Support Systems) for decision support,

(3) TPS (Transaction Processing Systems) to support the transaction processing process,

increased motivation of students for ICT studies in Serbia is a positive consequence of two main factors:

(1) the technology sector is one of the few in Serbia with a labour shortage, and

(2) the average salary of employees in the technology sector is signicantly (four to seven times)

higher than the Serbian average

On the other hand, in developed countries, students’ interest in the ICT sector is declining because

sectors. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that the domestic IT market is shallow and that the

companies operating in this area are focused on the global market. These are mostly large companies

because individuals do not have the nancial potential needed to operate on the global market. In

and Stamatović, 2018).

The main goal of ICT studies is to provide students with a high-quality education so that after

completing their studies, they have the knowledge and skills needed to work in appropriate positions

in the eld of information technology. In addition, students should be able to continue their education -

master and doctoral studies in this eld. In general, IT education should be aimed at acquiring the ability

of a modern approach to solving problems, where the use of technology that enables different methods

and ways of working is assumed. It is predicted that as early as 2027, Serbia will enter a serious labour

market crisis, which would be reected in the lack of manpower needed for continued economic growth.

In addition, if the existing economic structure were to be maintained, due to higher demand compared

to labour supply, the growth of wages would be higher than the growth of ination, which would have a

www.ijcrsee.com

149

Vesić, D., Laković, D., & Vesić, S. Lj. (2023). Use of Information Technologies in Higher Education From The Aspect of

Management, International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(1), 143-151.

entire program or approach, because it can contain a number of subjective assessments and attitudes.

education. Conversely, the charge of positive energy of a leader in the phase of organization creation also

requires special personality qualities, the ability to adapt in turbulent circumstances, to solve problems on

the y, to accept change as a challenge and to be able to create a climate of trust in the uid unstructured

environment of the organization, a common goal and a special mission, which means the readiness of

employees to solve all problems as a team in conditions of rapid and sudden changes (Petrović, Pavlović

by using new information technologies.

In the modern structure of an ICT company, which is engaged in the production of applications,

from the aspect of the type of work performed in it, in the broadest sense, three large groups of work can

be distinguished: programmers, analysts and DevOps.

The rst group of employees deals with coding, which used to be called programming and more

recently is called development. Employees in this group/sector are mostly students of the Faculty of

Mathematics, Electrical Engineering and Organizational Sciences. Former programmers are now more

Organizational Sciences and are engaged in one of the following activities: business analyst (BA), quality

assurance (QA), project manager (PM), and product manager (Product Manager).

The third group of employees are DevOpses who deal with providing technical prerequisites for

business, building and long-term conguration of the necessary IT infrastructure. Their role is to speed up

the process of development, testing and release of software into production as much as possible, through

different ways of automation and the use of specialized software tools. In this way, they enable the ICT

company to meet the needs of clients in the shortest possible time, reducing the time of the software

development life cycle. In addition to classic system administrators, this includes those who maintain

virtual machines (VM) and congure cloud services, maintain connectivity (internal networks, Internet

connections with the outside world) and the availability of databases and data warehouses.

www.ijcrsee.com

150

acquired at the Faculty of Economics, also possess technical skills, e.g. to search databases (via basic

Faculty of Economics as well as at complementary faculties and study programs. This module would

provide basic knowledge related to databases. In addition, students would learn business specication

writing techniques, which are an integral part of the analyst’s job. Finally, the material would cover the

creation of test plans for the needs of testing new code, which is an indispensable job of every analyst. In

this way, it is ensured that the software product implements the agreed business scenarios.

existing project management, because this is a subspecialization related to IT project management, in

the sense of creating, testing and implementing a new application that an IT company makes for its client.

Students would gain knowledge about the basic phases of an IT project, the connection between those

phases and the standard problems accompanying the implementation of IT applications, such as the lack

of interest of the client in the initial phase, expected delays and potential additions and changes to the

original requirements during implementation.

(4) Product management is a module/subject that should provide the knowledge and skills needed

for the position of product manager (Product Manager or Product Owner). Students would master the

agile methodology for developing new and supporting existing products and precisely understand the

roles each participant (developer, BA, QA) has in daily operational work.

problem of IT companies related to the introduction of trainees. Introducing interns to work is quite difcult

due to the fact that the workplace requires multidisciplinary knowledge that, according to the current

curriculum, is acquired at several different faculties. In practice, it takes several years for a beginner to

understand the day-to-day business activities in an IT company, and the new modules would reduce this

adjustment time from several years to a few weeks.

In the described way, the possibility would also be created for young people to be more effectively

educated for work in modern IT companies that nurture agile development practices, such as example,

Scrum, which by its very nature requires more IT specialists, compared to public companies and large

state systems, which generally do not have such practices, and because of the staff decit, they tend

more to be IT generalists.

www.ijcrsee.com

151

Vesić, D., Laković, D., & Vesić, S. Lj. (2023). Use of Information Technologies in Higher Education From The Aspect of

Management, International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education (IJCRSEE), 11(1), 143-151.

emphasized.

thing is to adapt to dynamic changes in the environment. Therefore, the primary task of educators is to

determine not only positive but also negative inuences and to adequately treat them in models of the

educational process. The process of education of modern managers, in modern crises and turbulent

conditions, will increasingly depend on the way and extent of using information and communication

technologies.