The global pandemic of the virus COVID-19 dramatically has impacted Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina and worldwide. HEIs were forced to switch overnight to online lectures and exams without almost any teachers' and students' preparation and education. After one year of online classes at the University of Mostar (SUM), whether that kind of teaching impacts creativity. In order to find the answer to the research question, the authors used a questionnaire they developed and applied in 2015 to investigate students' perceptions about creativity at the University of Mostar. The research presented in this paper is limited to SUM students who have had online classes since March 2020. The primary research goal is to investigate whether there are any significant changes in students' perceptions of creativity compared to research from 2015. Namely, the authors investigate whether the enhanced use of IT and online platforms (Google Meet, SUMARUM – the University of Mostar’s variant of Moodle) affected students' creativity. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Recently, social media has become an integral part of different business activities. One of these activities is the recruitment and selection of employees. The paper presents the results of empirical research conducted among the students of the University of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) and BH employers related to the use of social media in the process of recruitment and selection of new employees. The aim of the research is to find if there are similarities or/and differences in standpoints of students and employers concerning the use of social media in job finding and recruitment. The results show that most students and employers recognized social media as a valuable tool in the process of job finding, i.e., recruiting. However, both students and employers expressed reserve about data accuracy on social media. Students were resolute that their activities on social media should not affect their employment, while employers saw social media only as an additional tool in human resource management.

The article presents research about the use of genetic algorithms in the analysis of the interrelation among curriculum courses in higher education. The authors used genetic algorithms as a method to analyse the influence that achieved grades in predictors' courses have on achieved grades in dependent courses as well as to observe whether the genetic algorithms can contribute to improving the curriculum. The research was based on a set of data related to the success of students from the Faculty of Information Technologies at the University 'Džemal Bijediae' in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim was to anticipate students' grades based on the grades they obtained in previous semester's courses. This research should help educational institutions to evaluate the suitability of the sequence of courses within the curriculum in order to enable personalized learning paths, make the teaching processes more efficient, and promote a balanced curriculum. Namely, a good curriculum can attract new students, improve the success rate of enrolled students, and increase the quality and visibility of the institution. Since the genetic algorithm is search techniques for handling complex spaces, we can use it for the research at each stage of the educational process. Analyses of quantitative data using a genetic algorithm can help educational institutions improve the quality of teaching.

The paper presents the results of research related to students’ perception of enhancing their critical thinking during studies at higher education institutions (HEIs). The authors developed a questionnaire and conducted the research at the public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) in order to investigate students’ perception of enhancing their critical thinking during studies at the university. Namely, in a 21st century, the employability of fresh graduates highly depends on their soft skills, especially their ability to think critically in solving the problems. The aim of the presented research is to find if BH students are aware of the necessity to enhance their critical thinking abilities during their studies in order to be better prepared for their future jobs.

The aim of this chapter is to research and present strengths and limitations of social media analytics tools used in the financial sector. Emphasis is on the business point of view that sees the social media analytics as a collection of tools that transform semi-structured and unstructured social data into noteworthy business insight. There are two main aspects of social media analytics: the technology aspect which covers identifying, extracting, and analyzing social media data using sophisticated tools and techniques; and the business aspect which interprets the data findings and aligns them with business goals. Namely, it is simply not enough to have a social media analytics tool; the tool should be strategically aligned to support existing business goals. The chapter offers a framework for easier adoption and implementation of these tools in the financial sector.

This chapter explores the importance of using ICT in education, focusing on the strong potential of ICT's ability to ease the process of inclusion. Namely, ICT could be a particularly valuable tool for people with disabilities; these tools can improve these individuals' quality of life, reduce social exclusion, and increase social participation. Inclusive education involves focusing on the individual needs of learners, helping them to overcome any barriers that may prevent them from reaching their potential. Through the extensive use of ICT in education, it becomes possible to meet the specific needs of different groups of students, including students with special needs. This chapter presents brief analyses of different supportive technologies, such as hardware and software solutions, Web 2.0 technologies, virtual learning environments (VLEs), virtual worlds, and other similar technologies. The chapter will also stress some open issues, including limitations in interactions, communication, and learning.

This article analyses the presence and activity on the field of social media in the countries that belonged to the same state in the past: Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – these named as Western Balkan Countries (WBCs) – and, Slovenia and Croatia as EU member states. The authors have analysed the official profiles of the respective countries on social media and calculated the Facebook Assessment Index (FAI) for WBCs, and Croatia and Slovenia as a benchmark. The results show that Twitter and Facebook are the most used social media. In WBCs group, the FAI index could not be calculated for BIH and Serbia, while the other two countries had high index values. Benchmark countries have lower values but they are significantly highlighted by individual sub-indices. The governments of the researched countries mostly publish promotional information about their work. Consequently, they have a relatively small number of friends/followers/subscribers and comments/shares/likes on social media. Therefore, these countries fail to use the full potential of social media to increase visibility and transparency of their work and to ensure communication channel for idea and information exchange between government and citizens, making the public policies design more inclusive and increasing trust between government and citizens. The findings provide an insight into the nature of activity on social media in WBCs. While FAI scores show that WBCs do not lag far behind established benchmarks, the research proves that some of the weights proposed in the literature and used in the calculation of FAI index are too simplified to adequately evaluate posts on the Facebook pages. Hence, this article contributes above all to the awareness regarding further potentials and the interdisciplinary aspects of stately social media usage, in theory and practice alike.

The paper presents the research of the current state of the presence and activities of higher education institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on social network sites (SNS). Although higher education institutions in BiH have recognized the necessity of using social networks for communications with their stakeholders, especially students, they still struggle with the content posted on SNS and its frequency. The authors use content analysis to examine SNS posts from BiH higher education institutions and engagement from their constituents on these posts. Results show that there are significant differences in engagement received on posts across institution type and according to content and type of posts. The aim of the paper is to analyze if HEIs in BiH use SNS and to what degree, as well as if there is any difference between public and private institutions related to the usage of SNS.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with complex and asymmetrical structure (two entities, District Brčko, and cantons with own government and ministries), The number of ministries in the BiH is enormous. Coordination between so many governments and ministries is demanding while most of the citizens are completely lost in that institutional labyrinth. One of the possible ways how governments and their institutions could help citizens, ensure direct communication with them and improve mutual coordination is more intensive use of social networks (Facebook, Twitter). Social networks have potential to increase visibility and transparency of the work of governments and their institutions. Also, they could make policy processes more inclusive and increase confidence between governments and citizens. The main goal of the paper is to explore presence and activity on social networks in BiH government institutions, to discuss major challenges and to propose potential options for better implementation of social networks in these institutions.