On-line Education as a Development Opportunity for Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has enforced significant changes in all types of organizations. This paper will examine digitalization in higher education and the effects it has caused. Educational institutions have been pushed to transform their traditional teaching models into hybrid digital systems, where students spend most of their time in online environment. With a goal to examine impressions of key stakeholders (students and teaching staff), research was conducted at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade, in order to review results of online teaching methods. Focus was on comparing success that students and teachers had before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further on, this paper considers contribution and development opportunities that online education can provide. Those benefits include but are not limited to: enrolling more students, significantly enhancing financial resources, possibility of opening international study programs which would contribute to international cooperation, greater reputation and prestige of these educational institutions.