engleski

ICT as a Tool for Building Social Capital in Higher Education

The critical organizational form in the information age is networking. This new organizational principle is manifested through the processes of internationalization and global academic cooperation which have become inevitable strategies for every higher education institution in order to be competitive in a global education market. The effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) such as synchronous and asynchronous methods of distance learning enables higher education institutions to reach out students, teachers and researchers in foreign countries without physically moving them. Besides improving communication and exchange of information followed by opportunities for cross-cultural learning, effective ICT implementation enables expansion of social and economic networks and strengthenes institutional and academic ties by thus building social capital. The following study investigates the role of ICT in building social capital and human capacity in terms of knowledge sharing, targeted training and developing education initiatives in higher education institutions. The focus of this paper is on such positive practices implemented at Zagreb School of Economics and Management (ZSEM). Since its foundation in 2002, a systematic use of new technologies in education has been encouraged which in turn provided the basis for major advances in development. Today ZSEM has around 1400 students and about 150 courses with integrated e-learning system while currently 7% of students take part in various types of international exchange.

ICT, Social Capital, Higher Education

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