CEF Online Learning Proves to Be a Success
Ms. Slobodanka Marjanović works at the Ministry of Economy in Serbia and is involved in designing and costing of structural reforms while also monitoring their implementation in her country. She has attended several learning initiatives as part of the of the EU funded multi-country project “Strengthening Line Ministries’ Capacities to Assess Fiscal Implications of Structural Reforms” (FISR). Below she offers her reflections on how she perceives the move of learning to an online environment due to the current pandemic that we have been affected by.
“The COVID 19 crisis caused many negative consequences, but also several good ones. We spent more time with our loved ones and, at the same time, we had an opportunity to improve our skills in modern communication techniques and tools.
We had to learn through webinars instead of seminars. As a result, we have all progressed in IT and seen the effectiveness of using modern IT solutions. The first and biggest advantage is the freedom to organize learning according to one’s abilities, needs and dynamics. In my online learning experience, tasks were the most useful because they were practical and we received feedback from experts. I must say though that I missed group and team work and more conversation between the participants, which is still easier to organize at live seminars.
It was my first time to participate at webinars. At the beginning, I was really skeptical how it would turn out. However, I have to admit that both CEF webinars were great and very well organized. Everything was completely clear, including the sequence of activities, tasks and timing. The structure of webinars was in line with the defined goals and my personal needs in the area of programing and budgeting of Economic Reform Programs (ERP). I heard and learned a lot of important facts and useful things from experts, which I will use in further work in the area of ERP.
Dear CEF team, thank you for this good learning opportunity!”