Education at RIT Croatia: preparing students for real life situations

Dr. Kristina Šorić
College Professor with Tenure /Senior Research Associate

We live in a very dynamic time. The world has become one global village. Information is spread at lightning speed. The circumstances in which we live change, not only from day to day, but from hour to hour. And digital technology has certainly contributed to this.

Students need to know how to approach the problem, not learn the facts by heart

And now, what does education mean in such a world? What to teach students? In which way? From what literature? Using what technology? To prepare young people for the future is not enough to give them knowledge from books. Today, knowledge is easily available. The latest book is not even being published and is already available worldwide.

And that is why we should insist on learning outcomes. Do I want students to reproduce the facts, or do I want them to be able to spot the problem, to know how to systematize it, to model it, to discuss it with their team, to propose a solution, to interpret that solution, to improve and ultimately to make the optimal decision? My choice is the latter. I want to prepare students for life, not for a TV quiz! I want my students to be agile and able to face any situation without fear, both at work and in their personal lives. I want my students to develop true moral values and their purpose.

Online classes bring myriad of benefits

When I have a clear goal, of course it is not difficult for me to adapt to any business situation. And when I add to this my continuous improvement and search for new trends, the recent transition to online teaching due to the COVID - 19 pandemic has not been a problem for me, but just another challenge. A challenge I look forward to.

Moving on to online classes, I have noticed the myriad of benefits. When the material is well prepared for online teaching, we suddenly have more time for discussion, students are more engaged and focused, feel more free to communicate, unhindered by the classroom environment. In their home, with a cup of coffee or a glass of juice, in comfortable clothes, everything is somehow relaxed. And they noticed that they did not need to "waste" time traveling from home to campus and vice versa. They have also learned new ways to use technology, it becomes a new challenge for them, more dynamic and fun. The classes are recorded, which provides students with a stimulating environment for self-study after the online class.

I communicate more quickly with my business associates, write professional texts describing the activities of their businesses, and communicate this to students using technology that makes the whole story more dynamic and faster.

Of course, all this is a lot of fun for us now because we know each other from personal contacts in the classroom. That's why I think the optimal combination of using classroom and online teaching is a real hit! Also, when we add visits to the companies and guest lectures (either classroom or online), education undoubtedly achieves its purpose by obtaining the intended learning outcomes.