Robotika za djecu: nacionalne politike i inicijative u tri europske zemlje

This article explores the issue of introducing children between six and ten years of age ‎to robotics and investigates the use of robots in schools and in extracurricular activities. The central ‎questions are 1) whether and how the introduction of robotics is addressed in political strategies and‎ educational policies (RQ1), and 2) what the main actors in the introduction of robots in educational‎ settings are (RQ2). Therefore, a pilot study in three European countries (Austria, Lithuania, Romania)‎was conducted, which included an analysis of national policy strategies, as well as interviews with three‎ stakeholders per country. The article illustrates the specificities of the investigated countries presented as ‎case studies and discusses them in a comparative way. The findings show that the investigated countries’‎ educational policies aim at mirroring the Digital Agenda for Europe and that two opposite approaches ‎to implementation of robotics (bottom-up vs. top-down) can be identified.‎Ovaj članak istražuje upoznavanje djece u dobi od šest do deset godina s robotikom te ispituje‎ upotrebu robota u školama i izvannastavnim aktivnostima. Središnja pitanja su 1) je li uvođenje robotike ‎obuhvaćeno političkim strategijama i obrazovnim politikama i na koji način (RQ1) te 2) tko su glavni‎ akteri uvođenja robota u obrazovno okruženje (RQ2). Kako bi se odgovorilo na ova pitanja, provedena ‎je pilot studija u tri europske zemlje (Austriji, Litvi i Rumunjskoj) koja je uključivala analizu nacionalnih ‎policy strategija, kao i intervjue s po tri dionika u svakoj zemlji. Članak ilustrira specifičnosti istraživanih ‎zemalja prezentirane kao studije slučaja, raspravlja o njima i međusobno ih uspoređuje. Nalazi pokazuju ‎kako obrazovne politike u analiziranim zemljama imaju za cilj preslikati Digitalnu agendu za Europu ‎te da se mogu identificirati dva suprotna pristupa implementaciji robotike, odozdo prema gore i odozgo ‎prema dolje.

The interest of self-initiated expatriates in working virtually for their country of origin in relation to universal values

This article aims to investigate the interest of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) in working virtually for their country of origin and its relationship to the values of the individual. This research contributes to our understanding of the interest in working virtually for the country of origin and its relationships to universal values. The analysis is based on a quantitative study conducted with 1,970 SIEs from Lithuania. More than half of the respondents were willing to work virtually for their country of origin. Moreover, higher motivation influences the willingness to work virtually. Positive correlations were found between collectivist and individualist values and willingness to work virtually for the country of origin and between individualist values and economic motivation. The study is based solely on self-reports of their subjective values and opinions and refers to the case of expatriates from a single country

National Identity in Lithuania: Processes During the Period of Changes

Under the conditions of rapid and total change in the social, political, economic and legal environment in Lithuania, a re-orientation process is going on in all groups of society. In this process, not only younger but also middle-aged and old people become adherents to what Ms. Liubiniene calls the new, "post-materialist" values, strongly reinforced by powerful agents of socialisation originating in the West, like the media, advertising agencies and lifestyle-consumption models. As a result, the national identity of Lithuania and its inhabitants is being reconstructed. Ms. Liubiniene set out to examine the details of this evolving identity by conducting a survey of 1218 university staff and students. Her conclusions are set out in a 74 page manuscript, written in Lithuanian and available on disc. Change is most noticeable among the young. Indeed, time and time again, Ms. Liubiniene was to find that the age of 36 marks a natural watershed, with, for instance, the younger group valuing individualism highly and the older, collectivism. Ms. Liubiniene ventures to suggest that traditional values are deeply rooted amongst elderly people, women and people with an education in the humanities. Young people on the other hand, and especially those with a professional orientation towards business are more open to change and ready to adapt to new values. Turning to the evaluation of national symbols, Ms. Liubinie finds that those with an education in the humanities might be considered to be the most traditional, placing greater value on the symbols of nature, ethnic culture and religion. Folk songs and the crucifix are also in their top ten. Respondents with a technical education favour symbols of statehood and nature, and respondents with a business orientation assign greater value to the symbols of nature, history, sports and statehood. Ms. Liubinie concludes that the group of respondents most active and ready to adapt to new things is composed of young males of a business orientation. Generally the national identity of the young is weaker compared to that of the old. In the future, the combination of the evolution of values and the process of inter-generational replacement allows us to predict a weakening of the sense of national identity, or at least its transformation into something radically different to what it is today

Value change : Related to the process of democratisation in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia

How have people in the three Baltic states changed after the fall of the Soviet Union? Do they trust the new political institutions? How do they look upon gender equality, homosexuality or abortion? What differences are there between the three countries, and how can they be explained? These are some of the questions addressed in this report. The analyses are based on data from a series of surveys carried out as part of the research project "Democracy and Social Transition in the Baltic Sea Region" at Södertörns högskola (University College