Pilot Research into the Perceived Importance of Educational Elements and an Application for Detecting Progress through the Perspective of Practice

Abstract

Data analysis and the development of learning skills based on monitoring students’ progress are aspects in demand by schools and students. Quite a lot of studies deal with Learning Analytics Dashboards. There is a limited number of studies that take into account the supply of such tools on the market. In this pilot study, the researchers present findings on the attitudes of 19 higher education institutions from the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Poland, along with 14 secondary schools from the Czech Republic, towards the proposed web-based application for supporting learning and providing automated feedback on student progress in accounting education. The aim of this section was to find out how schools perceive the importance of the proposed application and its specific parameters. The study also presents the current product offer on the Czech market and the interest among 112 companies in developing such an application. The findings revealed that there is no such tool offered on the Czech market, and the majority of the analyzed companies are interested in its development. The schools evaluated the learning tool as being most important in the area of distance learning, and most useful for the visualization of accounting methods based mainly on imagination. The value of such an application is seen in supporting self-study, providing information on attitudes and current abilities, and tracking students’ learning progress.

1. Introduction

Recent education, regardless of the level or type (distant or in the classroom), or the age of the lecturer, is strongly impacted by digitalization [1,2,3]. The digital transformation is viewed as an imperative; it represents, according to [4] (p. 5) “a series of deep and coordinated culture, workforce, and technology shifts that enable new educational and operating models and transform an institution’s operations, strategic directions, and value proposition”. Formative assessment and continuous feedback to students on their progress in their studies is becoming increasingly important. Universities and secondary schools have experienced pressure to change teaching methods and forms in order to adapt them for the online environment [5] in which teaching has taken place and often still takes place. However, schools and teachers are less aware that there is also an increasing need to change the methods and forms of learning to be student-centered [6]. The researchers support the argument of the authors [5] that learning does not only take place within a person but within and across virtual space. Therefore, providing formative feedback and monitoring student progress based on behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions is an essential part of today’s modern education [7]. The study [5] points out several major challenges. There is no systematic feature for tracking and evaluating students’ online learning activities in a web-based interactive environment in order to show student progress. There is also a lack of immediacy, personal feedback and self-reflection. Few researchers have empirically examined, so far, how students perceive informed learning progress in solving a complex problem [8]. The use of a web-based interactive environment for learning itself allows the research to be based on the data produced by users through their interaction with the application. Two research areas, namely Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics, deal with this modern direction of research on learning and cognition. Their anchoring, as a separate research field, was noted in the year 2013 [9]. Data-driven research is widespread in university settings. For example, this field can be used to understand the causes of student performance, to predict at-risk students at an early stage [10], or to prevent students’ dropout in higher education [11].

In the economic sciences, which include the field of accounting, it is important to promote thinking. It is an important prerequisite in order to achieve better academic and professional outcomes, and it strongly affects learning and teaching strategies [12,13]. Already, J. M. Keynes has pointed out that economics is a tool of thinking in order to make the right conclusions, and is relevant in relation to the economic problem at hand [14]. The study of accounting is oriented towards inference, imagination, visualization, evaluation, discovery, or rationale [15]. In order for the efforts of the teacher and the student in accounting science to be capitalized, the necessary cognitive dimensions need to be adequately developed, especially through the previously mentioned cognitive processes [16]. This could be fulfilled by visualization tools in an interactive environment. The authors [17] defined cognitive skills that can be developed in accounting disciplines through mobile devices in a university setting. These authors [17] built on their 2019 research and took it to a professional level, in a labour market environment. They incorporated not only human information processing theory (HIPT) but also components such as worker satisfaction and motivation into the model. Their research has implications for improving jobs in finance and accounting. In the context of turbulent technological advances, a visualization web application in an interactive environment could be considered to transform the current learning-based accounting education not only into a deeper level of thinking but also to support students’ self-studying and inform them of their learning progress.

1.1. Formative Feedback for Learning Progress

One way to define learning is in terms of the components it involves. Thus, learning involves the purposeful improvement of cognitive, affective, or behavioral skills [18,19,20]. Formative assessment, which is an effort to detect improvement by diagnosing the quality of student responses, is important for effective learning. It is an effort that encourages formative feedback toward learning goals [21,22,23,24]. The formative function of assessment is understood as a set of activities following a logical sequence [25]: (a) clarify learning objectives and success criteria so that students understand them; (b) prepare questions, tasks and activities, and effectively guide discussions and activities so that evidence of learning emerges during them; (c)provide feedback that enables students to move forward; (d) activate students to become a source of learning for each other; and (e) activate students to take ownership of their learning. Formative feedback is based on providing information on how the student should improve. The studies [26,27] identified several assumptions underlying formative assessment that must be simultaneously met in order for it to be functional: (i) Formative assessment must be domain-specific; therefore, it is not the same across grade levels and settings. (ii) Teachers must display sufficient cognitive and professional skills in relation to the educational domain (in particular, what conclusions to draw from student performance, and what actions to take). (iii) A more conscious approach to students’ own learning. Students need to rethink their current attitudes to learning and teachers need to change the way they have been teaching. Feedback is an essential factor for learning and teaching, and can greatly enhance learning. Reviews and meta-analyses show that the range of effects of studies comparing different types of feedback varies from moderate negative to large positive effects. The effects of feedback strategies can vary depending on contextual factors such as task complexity, and individual factors such as knowledge or motivation [22,28,29].

1.2. Formative Feedback Based on Learning Analytics

Technology-based formative feedback has been defined and its test prototype developed through research [8] based on the findings of several researchers who have developed learning dashboards to visualize learning progress in terms of long-term change [30,31,32,33]. Formative feedback is based on a series of students’ responses to a pre-specified problem-based task. Thus, both teacher and student have information about the student’s progress towards a solution, for example, in the level of expert understanding of the situation. The study [34] proposed a Learning Analytics Dashboard (LAD) and examined critical factors of the perceived usefulness of a Learning Analytics Dashboard for distance university students. Their research was based on interviews with 21 students.

Their findings revealed that amongst the LAD features favoured by studentswas the potential to receive study recommendations, whereas comparison with peers was amongst the least favoured elements, unless informed by qualitative information. Factors including information trust, attitudes, age, performance and academic self-confidence were found to explain these perceptions.

[34] (p. 1)

However, the study did not emphasize other important parameters such as student individualization (i.e., tailoring instruction to students’ needs and goals), student–teacher cooperation, or cooperation among students. Detected student progress helps teachers determine instructional sequencing and strategies. Learning progress is an empirically testable framework that defines the learning pathways through which students move from simple to more sophisticated concepts or practices in a domain [35]. The automated tracking of learning progress is based on the Learning Analytics system [9], which enables the use of technology-enhanced formative assessment and feedback applications. Such a system helps students to take control of their learning [8,36], and students become the source and subsequently the owner of their learning [25]. It is a prerequisite that students are equipped with digital competence, and that they can face the requirements of a changing educational model [37]. Learning Analytics can be used to identify at-risk students and define practices to improve teaching and learning [38]. The studies mentioned above do not reflect the existing supply of these mobile and web-based applications and programs in the market, nor the interest of manufacturers in such products. Hence, this study is oriented in the given context and extends the knowledge with the perspectives of the representatives of the application domain, and their needs and interests.

1.3. Research on Accounting Education and Learning Strategies

From a methodological point of view, accounting education is closely related to mathematical sciences, as it is based on mathematical laws and logic theory, and the typical gnoseological procedures are deduction, analogy, abstraction, and imagination, etc. [16]. The importance of image-based reasoning in mathematical understanding and problem solving has been recognized, for example, by the authors [39,40]. This claim is supported by a study [41] which examined the relationship between mathematical and economic (financial) literacy, and confirmed a significant positive association. Past research [15,42] at the science level has already been directed towards exploring the concepts and links between accounting and mathematical laws. Their research shows that accounting functions in their interactions are underpinned by alternative mathematical–analytical models. Often, accounting is taught based on trivial, passive, intuitive practices [43,44]. It cannot be argued that teachers do not make an effort to guide students to logical thinking and deduction, but traditional teaching tools without interaction, imagination, and visualization will not achieve the necessary development of accounting thinking, e.g., [45]. If the core of accounting thinking is the ability of students to see the duplicity of accounting entries in all three possible types of representations [43]—debit and credit side pre-contracting, double-sided entries in accounts, and accounting statements—then the results of research with Czech undergraduate students are worrying. In no year of study were the three forms of understanding of accounting correlations even remotely balanced [46]. The above findings from 2013 are confirmed by more recent research from the foreign higher education field [44]. The study described the current state of accounting education in higher education institutions, which is not in line with the development of accounting thinking described above.

From the above findings, it is evident that the teaching of accounting, whether at higher education institutions or secondary schools, needs innovation in the use of modern digital tools, which, above all, will help to increase the clarity of the presented curriculum, leading to understanding and the development of thinking. Animations, simulations, and visualizations are appropriate means not only of presenting the issues but also of capturing students’ progress. International studies [8,34] point to prototypes of similar instructional panels for tracking students’ progress in terms of long-term change, which serve as an information channel for effective decision making by students regarding learning and teachers regarding teaching.

1.4. Aim of the Research, Development of Hypotheses and Research Questions

The aim of our study is to find out how secondary school, higher economic education institutions, and representatives of the application sphere perceive the importance of educational elements and visualization web applications that should serve not only to monitor and evaluate students’ online learning activities in a web-based interactive environment but also to support (i) self-study, cooperation and students’ ability to learn by detecting their progress in competencies and attitudes towards learning through formative assessment, continuous feedback and self-reflection; (ii) students’ thinking in accounting disciplines; and (iii) teachers’ decision making about their future teaching, enabling the selection of relevant teaching methods that will be directed towards effective student learning.

The purpose of such a web application is to support a modern way of teaching at the secondary and higher education level in the Czech Republic and beyond based on Learning Analytics. This approach is challenging but very useful, and is used in teaching practice. The study concept is based on pilot research focusing on the current attitudes and needs of schools and representatives of application spheres, but not on defining parameters for the assessment of students’ progress in the long term, with implications for learning outcomes. The design of the study is based on a pilot survey that focuses on the current attitudes of representatives of the application sphere and partner secondary and higher education institutions with which the researchers work closely in educational projects, but not on defining parameters for assessing students’ progress in the long term, with implications for learning outcomes.

The first part of the research was processed using quantitative research methods: the subject of the analysis of attitudes of schools was to test the following substantive hypotheses:

• H1: School representatives’ attitudes towards the need for a visualization web application for learning vary by country and level of education.
• H2: School representatives’ attitudes towards the specific parameters of a web-based learning application vary depending on the country and level of education.
• H3: School representatives’ attitudes towards the importance of educational elements for the teaching of accounting vary depending on the country and level of education.
• H4: School representatives’ views on the absence of educational elements in the teaching of accounting vary depending on the country and level of education.
• H5: There is a correlation between the need for a visualization web application and the perceived absence of educational elements to teach accounting.
• H6: There is a correlation between the perceived importance of specific parameters of a visualization web application for the teaching of accounting.

The second part of the research was processed using qualitative research methods. The subject of the analysis of companies’ opinions were these research questions:

RQ1: Is there such a web application for the teaching of accounting on the Czech market?

RQ2: Do relevant companies perceive the development of such a web application as beneficial?

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Procedure of Research

The research was carried out as pilot research related to the determination of the attitudes of representatives of secondary schools and higher education institutions towards the relevance of the proposed visualization web application for the teaching of accounting. Furthermore, the research was focused on representatives of the application sphere in order to find out their interest in the development of such an application on the Czech market. The Czech market was chosen because of the existence of a similar web visualization application in the international environment, where it is either being worked with or its prototype is being tested. This fact has emerged from international studies, e.g., [8,34]. Therefore, this study focuses on identifying the current supply of such a product on the Czech market because such knowledge is lacking in studies. The pilot research was conducted from October to December 2021.

The subject of the research was the perception of the importance of educational elements in the teaching of accounting and the specific parameters of the researchers’ proposed web application for the development of accounting thinking in an interactive environment, monitoring student progress and supporting their self-study and learning ability. The proposed web application and other educational elements were presented to the subjects in the form of a description, not in the form of a prototype intended for pilot testing. From this pilot research, it was possible to identify the interdependence of the need for such a didactic digital tool with the limitations in the teaching of accounting, and therefore to adapt the proposed didactic tool more effectively to current educational needs.

Among the learning elements, in light of the analysis of the current state of knowledge [6,8,9,34] and examples of good practice from the pandemic era and accounting education, the following were selected and labelled as follows:

• INDIVID: Student-centered individualization (i.e., teaching and learning are tailored to the interests and goals of individual students and their learning needs).
• COOP STUD: Cooperation among students during instruction in practical activities and studies.
• COOP TEACH: Cooperation between the student and teacher during the lessons in instructions and practical activities.
• ATTITUDES STUD: Computer-automated detection of student attitudes (i.e., obtaining continuous information about what the student enjoys, is interested in, is surprised by, finds difficult, etc.); after a certain period of time (class, semester) the student evaluates their attitudes towards the teaching of the subject.
• PROGRESS LEARN: Using computer automation, we obtain information about each student’s current abilities and progress, through which the student can make decisions about their future learning and choose effective learning methods.
• PROGRESS TEACH: Using computer automation, we obtain information about each student’s current abilities and progress, using which the teacher can make decisions about their future teaching and choose effective teaching methods.
• SW: Learning software to support learning.
• SIMULATION: Simulations of accounting activities supporting the ability to learn, for example in the form of project-based learning.
• PC GAMES: Didactic computer games to support learning.
• ANIMATION: Animation of the accounting view and transaction reporting to support the ability to learn.
• COMMENTARY: Spoken explanatory commentary supporting the ability to learn.
• COMBINE: Combination of spoken explanatory commentary with animations to support learning.

The above variables are closely related to the teaching process, and must be taken into account when conceptualizing the design description of a web-based learning application [6,8,9,34]. Exploring their relations will help us to better understand the factors influencing teaching, for the time being at the level of the perception of their importance and absence in teaching from the perspective of tertiary and secondary education representatives.

Among the specific parameters of the web application with respect to studies [17,18] and past experience, the following were selected and labelled as follows:

• APP FREE: Free version of the app.
• AUTOMATING ACCOUNT: Automating the transition between three formats for displaying accounting transactions—(i) pre-accounts, (ii) T-accounts, and (iii) financial statements.
• VISUALIZATION: Visualization of account parameters in the accounting books (i.e., turnover, opening/ending balances, number of counter-accounts) and reconciliations (amount, impact of the transaction on the statements) using the size, width and colour of objects representing accounts and reconciliations.
• INTERACTIVITY: Interactive environment for student self-learning, i.e., providing information about each student’s attitudes, current abilities and progress.
• FACE TEACHING: Usability of the application in full-time (face-to-face) teaching.
• DIST TEACHING: Usability of the application in distance learning (self-study).

The above parameters are linked to a web application that should serve the teaching of the accounting subject and help in understanding the relation between accounting and the reporting of economic information. Based on the analysis of current knowledge [43,44,45,46], they were selected in order to further explore the attitudes of representatives of tertiary education, secondary education, and the application sphere.

The examined educational elements and the proposed web application for the teaching of accounting, which carries the above specific parameters, are closely related. Their interconnectedness is based on Learning Analytics. Such an application would build on these principles, allowing students to move around in an interactive environment that would enable them to study the subject of accounting effectively, with immediate feedback impacting on learning outcomes and monitoring their attitudes towards learning. This also requires teachers and students to work together, to be able to detect student progress in knowledge and skills, and to use the ongoing results to improve student learning and teacher teaching. Thus, these principles come down to the teacher’s individual approach towards students. It is important that the application can be used for both contact and distance learning.

Information about the companies was the main subject of the qualitative research focused on the interest of representatives of the application sphere in the development of the proposed visualization web application on the market, especially the field of business and previous experience in the field, including the product portfolio, based on archival and publicly available data from official company websites.

2.2. Characteristics of Respondents

A total of 33 representatives of secondary and higher education institutions participated in the pilot research, and they were from the following countries: Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, and Poland. They participated in the quantitative research. A total of 26 Czech schools took part in the pilot survey, which also corresponds to the number of secondary schools and higher education institutions contacted, which at the same time are partner schools within the framework of educational projects. In addition, 7 representatives of universities from other countries took part. The researchers have focused the research on the partnering universities that have been cooperating within the International Business Network (IBW). The Network was established 21 years ago by the Belgian University College Leuven (University College Leuven-Limburgh since 2015) and the French Institut Universitaire de Technologie de Saint-Denis, a part of the University Sorbonne Paris Nord. In 2021, there were 13 members from Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine. Each partnering university or college organizes on a regular basis a week of student activities—an international business week, during which students cooperate on an international business case [47]. For the purpose of this research, the researchers have approached selected members of the IBW Network (Wroclaw School of Banking, Poland; University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern, Germany; West Attica University in Athens, Greece; Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands; University College Leuven-Limburgh, Belgium), based on the specialization of their international business weeks (accounting and finance).

Within the Czech Republic, not only higher education institutions with an economic focus were contacted but also secondary schools with an economic focus. The selection of these schools was intentional, as the researchers targeted economic study programmes, based on proven partnerships with these schools. In total, there were 14 secondary schools and 12 public higher education institutions from the Czech Republic, the questionnaire was completed for each school by one representative at the school management level, competent for strategy and pedagogical activities. In total, there are 26 public higher education institutions in the Czech Republic. Thus, the sample consisted of subjects (schools) represented by one representative each. With regard to such a selection of respondents at the school level, the researchers based their selection on the centralized development projects of the Ministry of Education, which have been launched in the Czech Republic since 2021, and in which all public higher education institutions are involved. In these projects, the sample consists of one representative of the higher education institution. A representative of the institution of higher education (rector, vice-rector, or dean) and secondary schools (principal or deputy principal) commented on distance education issues at the strategic level of the institution. In this pilot study, the researchers worked with such secondary schools from the Czech Republic that are also their partners in the IBW. As they do not have partner secondary schools in other countries, it was not possible to direct the research to secondary education in other countries for the time being. For this reason, the study is considered to be a pilot study, and based on the results the researchers will adjust the methodology for the comprehensive research. Taking into account some characteristics (country and level of education) will better identify differences in the views of the different institutions, and will thus be able to better detect the specific needs of different user groups.

Table 1. Profiles of the research sample.

Variable	Frequency	Percentage
Level of education
Secondary	14	42.40
Tertiary	19	57.60
Country
Czech Republic	26	78.80
Belgium	3	9.10
Germany	1	3.03
Greece	1	3.03
Netherlands	1	3.02
Poland	1	3.02

illustrates the research sample in terms of the characteristics studied.

Representatives of companies that were relevant to the research project represented the second group of the research group within the qualitative research. Their selection was conditioned by their business sector and previous experience in the industry, including their product portfolio, based on archival and publicly available data from official databases. Thus, the firms were selected in an intentional manner with the research objective in mind. The total spectrum of firms operating in the Czech market was narrowed down to 112 entities, which is in line with the intention. These entities were classified as micro-, small- and medium-sized firms, and are also represented by individual entrepreneurs and natural persons. Because firm size was not important for the research design, the frequency of firms by size is not reported in the paper. The professional focus and line of business of these entities was a crucial criterion for the research. Thus, these are firms engaged in application development and software development for commercial and educational purposes. Their professional orientation can be summarized in the following activities:

• the development of accounting and economic software and systems;
• the development of customized web applications and databases;
• the development of web applications for educational purposes oriented to students and teachers;
• the development of web applications and software for marketing purposes, internet commerce, and the development of POS systems;
• the development of information and transaction systems in Java and JavaScript;
• the development of mobile applications, the provision of cloud services, and system integration;
• the development of computer games.

2.3. Methods and Instrument

The first part of the pilot research was the survey, which took the form of a three-month online survey using a web-based questionnaire that was sent to the email addresses of representatives of secondary schools and higher education institutions. The questionnaire surveyed the following areas:

• factual data on secondary and higher education institutions in terms of the level of education and country;
• the perception of the need for the proposed visualization web application to develop accounting thinking, promote self-study and student learning, and monitor student progress through the viewpoint of representatives of secondary and higher education institutions;
• the perceived importance of the specific parameters of the web application the researchers designed from the viewpoint of representatives of secondary and higher education institutions;
• the perceived importance of the educational elements selected by the researchers for the teaching of accounting from the perspective of representatives of secondary and higher education institutions;
• the perceived absence of the educational elements selected by the researchers for the teaching of accounting, from the perspective of representatives of secondary and higher education institutions;
• the attitudes of representatives of secondary and higher education institutions towards the reasons for not adopting the proposed web application.

A five-point Likert scale of 1–5 was used to subjectively assess the selected variables, and the respondents were asked to omit (as far as possible) a neutral answer—level 3. The reason was to detect the most accurate definition to the proposed application of the contacted secondary schools and higher education institutions of economics. Another scale was used to assess the need for the proposed web application: strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. It is no longer a five-point Likert scale, as the researchers needed to find out the verbal attitude.

In order to assess the importance of specific parameters of this web application and the selected educational elements for the teaching of accounting, the following scale was used: 1—not important; 5—most important. In order to assess the absence of the selected educational elements in the teaching of accounting, the following scale was used: 1—not missing at all; 5—most missing.

The questionnaire offered respondents a choice of predetermined reasons for not adopting the proposed web application in secondary and higher education settings. The respondents were also given the opportunity to provide another, personal reason that was not listed in the offer. The following reasons were selected for the predefined offer:

• Teachers’ time spent on learning to use the app.
• Time spent on learning how to use the application on the part of the students.
• Teacher disinterest.
• Student disinterest.
• Bad experience with the use of digital, interactive applications.
• General disruption to your teaching.
• Overall disruption of students’ learning styles.
• Duplication of didactic means for the teaching of accounting.
• I don’t see the benefit of the web app.

All of the sensitive data have been anonymized and encrypted. Prior to the actual research, a pre-survey was conducted with a sample of 10 teachers from secondary schools and higher education institutions with the characteristics of the respondents from the main survey, thereby increasing the content validity of the research instrument. The reliability of the questionnaire was measured by computing Cronbach’s alpha [48]. The questionnaire was evaluated as reliable, as Cronbach’s alpha was 0.907.

Within the framework of pilot research oriented to representatives of the application sphere (the first part of the pilot research), the analysis of archival and publicly available documents was chosen. The selection of entities was made using the commercial and trade register in which the companies are registered, with regard to the field of business relevant to the research project. This was followed by an analysis of the websites of the 112 shortlisted businesses. This analysis was supplemented by direct meetings between the researchers and a representative of the company in order to substantiate the relevant selection and compile the final research sample from among representatives of the application sector. The aim of the direct interviews was to find out:

• the current availability (offer) of the designed visualization web application on the Czech market,
• the interest of selected companies in the development of web applications designed by the researchers.

2.4. Data Analysis

In the context of this study, the researchers equate the terms ‘need’ and ‘meaning’. Quantitative research methods and relevant statistical tests were chosen for data analysis, taking into account the nature of the data. These hypotheses are related to the pilot analysis of the attitudes of school representatives. The above substantive hypotheses were verified at the 5% significance level, and for this purpose were formulated as null hypotheses:

• H_0–1: School representatives’ attitudes towards the need for a visualization web application for learning do not vary by country or level of education.
• H_0–2: School representatives’ attitudes towards the specific parameters of a web-based learning application do not vary by country or level of education.
• H_0–3: School representatives’ attitudes towards the importance of educational elements for the teaching of accounting do not vary by country or level of education.
• H_0–4: School representatives’ views on the absence of educational elements in accounting education do not vary by country or level of education.
• H_0–5: There is no correlation between the need for a visualization web application and the perceived absence of educational elements to teach accounting.
• H_0–6: There is no correlation between the perceived importance of specific parameters of a visualization web application for the teaching of accounting.

The original data obtained from the questionnaire survey are of several types. The variables expressing the descriptive characteristics of the respondents—i.e., country and level of education—are nominal variables, and are used as a sorting factor to perform comparative analyses. The data contain mainly ordinal variables, expressed on a five-point Likert scale from 1 to 5. The relevance, the absence of educational elements for the teaching of accounting, the need for a web application and its specific parameters for educational purposes are described using the arithmetic mean. Because these characteristics do not meet the requirement of normality (verified by the Shapiro–Wilk test) but meet the requirement of homogeneity of variances (verified by the Levene test), the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U-Test was selected from the two-sample tests to assess the hypotheses H1 and H4. A correlation matrix was constructed to establish the correlation relations between the variables in the case of testing hypotheses H5 and H6. The tables presented in the Results section show only parts of it. The field inside the body of the table always contains the value of Pearson’s correlation coefficient r, which is usually used for this type of data [48]. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software.

The research questions RQ1 and RQ2 were set in close relation to the sub-questions from the face-to-face interview. A description of the parameters of the visualization web application was presented to the individual subjects from the application sphere, and then the researcher who conducted the interview asked the following questions:

• Do you offer or have you ever offered a product with similar features to the proposed visualization web application?
• Would you as a company be interested in developing such an application?
• Do you perceive the visualization web application designed by the researchers as being beneficial for education?

Qualitative research methods and relevant statistical tests were chosen for the data analysis, taking into account the nature of the data. Because the data from this section were obtained in the form of data description and a transcription of summary responses from the subjects, mathematical and statistical tools were not used for their processing.

3. Results

3.1. Descriptive Statistics—Research Focused on the School Environment

The results of the perception of the importance of a visualization web application for the development of accounting thinking, to support students’ self-study and learning ability and their progress in accounting disciplines, and the importance of specific parameters of this web application in partner secondary and higher education institutions in the Czech Republic and other countries are presented in

Table 2. Perception of the importance of a visualization web application and its specific parameters for the teaching of accounting from the perspective of schools (n = 33).

Variable	Mean	Median	Mode	Standard Deviation	Variance
The need for a visualization web application (NEED APP)	3.36	3.00	3.00	0.60	0.36
APP FREE	4.12	4.00	5.00	1.14	1.30
AUTOMATING ACCOUNT	4.06	4.00	4.00	0.90	0.81
VISUALIZATION	4.27	4.00	4.00	0.76	0.58
INTERACTIVITY	4.27	5.00	5.00	0.94	0.89
FACE TEACHING	4.00	4.00	5.00	1.17	1.38
DIST TEACHING	4.58	5.00	5.00	0.79	0.63

.

The results show that the proposed web application is necessary for the representatives of secondary schools and higher education institutions involved in the pilot survey, which corresponds to an average value of 3.36. The mean values expressing the importance of the web application parameters exceeded level 4, which indicates their high necessity for accounting education, especially for distance education needs.

The perception of the importance and absence of educational elements in the teaching of accounting in representatives of partner secondary schools and higher education institutions in the Czech Republic and other countries was also described using descriptive statistics. The results are presented in

Table 3. Perceptions of the importance of educational elements in the teaching of accounting from the perspective of school representatives (n = 33).

Variable	Mean	Median	Mode	Standard Deviation	Variance
INDIVID	3.58	4.00	5.00	1.30	1.69
COOP STUD	3.88	4.00	4.00	1.05	1.11
COOP TEACH	4.52	5.00	5.00	0.67	0.45
ATTITUDES STUD	3.42	4.00	4.00	1.32	1.75
PROGRESS LEARN	3.85	4.00	4.00	1.15	1.32
PROGRESS TEACH	3.73	4.00	4.00	1.18	1.39
SW	3.88	4.00	4.00	1.24	1.55
SIMULATION	4.18	4.00	4.00	0.98	0.97
PC GAMES	3.79	4.00	4.00	1.08	1.17
ANIMATION	3.76	4.00	4.00	1.00	1.00
COMMENTARY	3.73	4.00	5.00	1.28	1.64
COMBINE	4.27	4.00	5.00	0.94	0.89

and

Table 4. Perceived absence of educational elements in accounting education from the perspective of school representatives (n = 33).

Variable	Mean	Median	Mode	Standard Deviation	Variance
INDIVID	3.03	3.00	4.00	1.40	1.97
COOP STUD	2.91	2.00	2.00	1.31	1.71
COOP TEACH	2.79	2.00	2.00	1.36	1.86
ATTITUDES STUD	3.27	4.00	5.00	1.46	2.14
PROGRESS LEARN	3.58	4.00	4.00	1.30	1.69
PROGRESS TEACH	3.24	3.00	2.00	1.30	1.69
SW	3.30	4.00	4.00	1.45	2.09
SIMULATION	3.48	4.00	2.00	1.28	1.63
PC GAMES	3.36	3.00	3.00	1.29	1.68
ANIMATION	3.12	3.00	4.00	1.24	1.55
COMMENTARY	2.67	2.00	2.00	1.34	1.79
COMBINE	3.06	4.00	4.00	1.37	1.87

.

Representatives of secondary schools and higher education institutions perceive the most important elements of accounting education to be the collaboration between student and teacher, the combination of spoken explanatory commentary with animations to visualize the explanation, and the simulation of accounting activities. For these elements, the average values reflecting the perceived importance of secondary schools and higher education institutions are higher than grade 4. No element examined was found to have a value lower than 3, even for our proposed visualization web application, which can be considered to be a result that reflects some importance for accounting education.

According to the school representatives, the least lacking elements in accounting teaching are collaboration between students and teachers (COOP TEACH), which is pleasing, as this element is also considered the most important for the teaching of accounting. It is also the cooperation between students with each other (COOP STUD) and the combination of spoken explanatory commentary with animations (COMMENTARY). For the other elements, the average value exceeded grade 3, which indicates some absence of them in accounting teaching, which may make it difficult to achieve effective teaching (RQ3). It should be noted that schools assign a higher importance for the simulation of accounting activities (Table 3), but this is not much used in the teaching of accounting (3.48).

3.2. Attitudes of Secondary Schools and Higher Education Institutions towards Reasons for Disinterest in a Visualization Web Application

Furthermore, the attitudes of secondary and higher education institutions towards the reasons why a visualization web application might not be adopted by a given school were surveyed and described. The results are presented in the form of percentages at the level of each variable and are presented in

Table 5. Reasons for not being interested in a visualization web application for the teaching of accounting in % (n = 33).

Variable	Yes	No
Teachers’ time spent on learning how to use the app	36.4	63.6
Time spent on learning how to use the app on the students’ side	33.3	66.7
Teacher disinterest	39.4	60.6
Student disinterest	30.3	69.7
Poor experience of using digital, interactive applications	9.1	90.9
General disruption of studies and teaching	9.1	90.9
Overall disruption in the way students learn	0.0	100.0
Duplication of didactic means for teaching accounting	21.2	78.8
There is no benefit of a web application	3.0	97.0

.

The results show that an overwhelming majority of school representatives are of the opinion that the researchers’ proposed web application would be beneficial for teaching and learning from their point of view, and would not represent a problematic didactic tool that would somehow interfere with established teaching methods or would significantly reduce the time teachers and students would spend on learning the new application.

3.3. Comparison of the Perceived Importance of Web Applications and Educational Elements for the Teaching of Accounting in Terms of Countries and Level of Education (Hypotheses H1–H4)

Furthermore, the Hypotheses H1–H4 were verified, i.e., there were statistically significant differences in the attitudes of the representatives of partner secondary schools and higher education institutions towards the need for a web application for accounting education, and the importance and absence of educational elements in accounting education in terms of differences between countries and levels of education in secondary and higher education were examined. The differences between countries were tested, i.e., between the Czech Republic and the other countries (i.e., Belgium, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland) where the partner higher education institutions are located. The hypotheses were tested using a T-Test.

Table 6. Differences in schools’ attitudes towards the need for a web application for the teaching of accounting, and the specific parameters of this application (n = 33).

Variable	Country (p)	Level of Education (p)
The need for a visualization web application (NEED APP)	0.282 *	0.603 *
APP FREE	0.498 *	0.033 *
AUTOMATING ACCOUNT	0.464 *	0.659 *
VISUALITION ACCOUNT	0.960 *	0.711 *
INTERACTIVITY	0.398 *	0.666 *
FACE TEACHING	1.000 *	0.135 *
DIST TEACHING	0.987 *	0.644 *

* The differences are significant at the 0.05 level.

and

Table 7. Differences in school representatives’ attitudes towards the importance and absence of educational elements for the teaching of accounting (n = 33).

Variable	Importance of Educational Elements		Absence of Educational Elements
	Country (p)	Level of Education (p)	Country (p)	Level of Education (p)
INDIVID	0.742 *	0.804 *	0.595 *	0.108 *
COOP STUD	0.738 *	0.376 *	0.840 *	0.738 *
COOP TEACH	0.705 *	0.144 *	0.284 *	0.619 *
ATTITUDES STUD	0.347 *	0.807 *	0.587 *	0.848 *
PROGRESS LEARN	0.454 *	0.573 *	0.515 *	0.804 *
PROGRESS TEACH	0.749 *	0.350 *	0.824 *	0.917 *
SW	0.535 *	0.933 *	0.747 *	0.954 *
SIMULATION	0.908 *	0.874 *	0.844 *	0.630 *
PC GAMES	0.568 *	0.332 *	0.411 *	0.981 *
ANIMATION	0.900 *	0.238 *	0.337 *	0.523 *
COMMENTARY	0.768 *	0.625 *	0.678 *	0.732 *
COMBINE	0.968 *	0.666 *	0.665 *	0.772 *

* The differences are significant at the 0.05 level.

show the results.

Significant differences were found between secondary and higher education institutions in the opinions of schools on the need for the web application and the importance of the proposed specific parameters of this application at the 5% level of significance in the case of the parameter ‘freely available version of the application’. Furthermore, according to the arithmetic mean, it was found that this parameter is more important for secondary schools to teach accounting (4.57) compared to higher education institutions (3.79). Considering the opinion from the point of view of the Czech Republic and other countries, the schools do not differ in their attitudes towards the need for web applications and the importance of their parameters, which was surprising to the researchers, as there is a difference in the approach to education in the Czech Republic and at the researched higher education institutions abroad. Possible reasons for this result are discussed in the Discussion section.

At the 95% significance level, the researchers do not reject the null hypothesis H_0-1. At the 95% significance level, the researchers reject the null hypothesis H_0-2 in the case of the parameter ‘free version of the web application’, and in the case of the degree of education.

There were no significant differences at the 5% level of significance in the views of the representatives of partner secondary schools and higher education institutions on the importance and absence of educational elements in accounting education by country and level of education. The partner schools in the Czech Republic and in other countries perceived the importance and absence of the elements studied in the same way. At the 95% significance level, the researchers do not reject the null hypotheses H_0-3 and H_0-4. Possible reasons for these results are discussed in the Discussion section, as they are surprising to the researchers and refute the original hypotheses.

3.4. Analysis of the Correlations in School Representatives’ Attitudes towards Web Applications and Educational Elements for the Teaching of Accounting (Hypotheses H5 and H6)

Pearson’s correlation coefficient r was used first to establish correlations between the perceived importance for a visualization web application to develop accounting thinking in an interactive environment and the perceived absence of educational elements in accounting education. This made it possible to establish the correlation between the need for such a didactic digital tool and the limitations in accounting education, and thus to adapt the proposed didactic tool more effectively to the current educational needs. Statistical analysis was performed at the 95% significance level. The results are illustrated in

Table 8. Correlation matrix—relationship between the perceived importance of specific application parameters.

		APP FREE	AUTOM. ACCOUNT	VISUALIZ. ACCOUNT	INTERACT.	FACE TEACH
APP FREE	r	—
	p	—
AUTOMATING ACCOUNT	r	0.176	—
	p	0.328 *	—
VISUALIZATION ACCOUNT	r	0.069	0.340	—
	p	0.704 *	0.053 *	—
INTERACTIVITY	r	0.085	0.127	0.284	—
	p	0.640 *	0.481 *	0.109 *	—
FACE TEACHING	r	0.140	0.237	0.245	0.310	—
	p	0.436 *	0.184 *	0.169 *	0.079 *	—
DIST TEACHING	r	0.197	0.213	0.457	0.369	0.202
	p	0.271 *	0.234 *	0.007 *	0.035 *	0.260 *

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level.

, in the form of a correlation matrix.

The correlation analysis shows a significant direct relation (p = 0.007; r = 0.457) of the usability of the web application in distance learning with the visualization of account parameters (i.e., turnover, opening/ending balance, number of contra-accounts) and reconciliations (amount, impact of the transaction on the statements) using the size, width, and colour of the objects representing the accounts and reconciliations. Statistical significance was also detected between these specific parameters—the usability of the web application in distance learning and the interactive environment offered by the application for student self-study, in order to provide information about their attitudes, current skills and progress in accounting disciplines. Although a significant (p = 0.035) direct relation was found between these variables, the correlation coefficient was not strong (r = 0.369).

At the 95% significance level, the researchers reject the hypothesis H_0-6 in the case of the following pairs of specific parameters: the usability of the web application in distance learning and visualization of account parameters, and the usability of the web application in distance learning and interactive environment for the self-study of the student, providing information about his/her attitudes and progress.

Furthermore, correlations were found between the perceived importances of specific parameters of this visualization web application. Statistical analysis was performed at the 95% significance level. The results are illustrated in

Table 9. Correlation matrix—relation between the need for a web application and the perceived absence of educational elements in accounting education.

NEED APP	Pearson’s r	p-Value
INDIVID	−0.050	0.781 *
COOP STUD	−0.036	0.842 *
COOP TEACH	−0.055	0.760 *
ATTITUDES STUD	0.451	0.008 *
PROGRESS LEARN	0.362	0.038 *
PROGRESS TEACH	0.323	0.067 *
SW	−0.023	0.900 *
SIMULATION	0.210	0.240 *
PC GAMES	0.025	0.888 *
ANIMATION	0.064	0.722 *
COMMENTARY	0.271	0.127 *
COMBINE	0.200	0.265 *

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level.

, extracted from the correlation matrix.

Furthermore, the correlation analysis shows a significant (p = 0.008) direct relation between the perceived need for a visualization web application and the computer automated detection of student attitudes, i.e., obtaining ongoing information about what the student enjoys, is interested in, is surprised by, is having trouble with, etc. in accounting. The correlation coefficient for this direct relation is r = 0.451. The need for a visualization web application correlate (p = 0.038) with computer automation to have information about each student’s current abilities and progress on which the student can make decisions about their future learning and choose effective learning methods. This is a positive relation between these variables that is not very strong (r = 0.362). There was no significant correlation between the other variables.

At 95% significance, the researchers reject the hypothesis H_0-5 for the following pairs of variables: the need for a visualization web application and computer automated detection of student attitudes, and the need for a visualization web application and computer automation to have information about each student’s current ability and progress on which they can make decisions about their future learning.

3.5. Interest in the Development of the Visualization Web Application on the Czech Market (RQ1 and RQ2)

From the analysis of archival and publicly available documents of representatives of the application sphere relevant to the research intention (n = 112), it was found that the proposed visualization web application is not available on the Czech market, or there is no similar product for the teaching of accounting or other educational needs. For this reason, direct interviews were conducted with representatives of these companies in online or contact form in order to supplement and refine the results regarding their interest in the development of the proposed web application that would incorporate the specific parameters.

Assessment of RQ1: Is there such a web application for the teaching of accounting on the Czech market?

From face-to-face interviews, it was confirmed that the proposed visualization web application is not yet available on the Czech market. In total, 69 subjects (61.6%) expressed that they implement web and mobile applications for educational purposes of other kinds. The most frequently mentioned were existing offers of accounting and economic software, mobile applications, provision of cloud services, and computer game development. The other 43 subjects (38.4%) said that they were not currently involved in this area.

The most frequently recurrent direct responses of the subjects are summarized as follows:

“We are involved in other products such as mobile applications, cloud services and the development of accounting and economic software. Your idea seems interesting to us, but we have no links to this idea at the moment.”

Assessment of RQ2: Do relevant companies perceive the development of such a web application as beneficial?

The companies contacted agree on the benefits of the web application for educational purposes. Although 43 companies out of the total sample of 112 are not currently directly involved in this matter, the design of this web application seems interesting to these companies, and they have expressed interest in possible cooperation on the research project. However, all of the firms agree that this will be a financially demanding activity.

The most recurrent direct responses of the subjects are summarized as follows:

“We do not produce the application, but we are not afraid to implement it according to your specifications. We see it as an asset.” We see the benefit in the application, but it will be a financially demanding activity.” We have tried to design something similar in the form of a prototype, we see the benefit in such things, but it has never been converted into current modern programs.”

It can be summarized that, currently, the proposed web application is not available on the Czech market, but the representatives of the application sphere from the Czech Republic, who are relevant for the given activity, perceive the proposed web application for educational purposes as important and as an interesting product for future development.

4. Discussion

The pilot study focused on finding out, on the one hand, how secondary and higher education institutions in the Czech Republic and higher education institutions in other countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland) perceive the importance of educational elements and visualization web applications that should serve to develop students’ accounting thinking in an interactive environment, in order to support self-study and the student’s ability to learn and monitor their progress in accounting disciplines, and, on the other hand, how interested the representatives of the application sphere in the Czech Republic are in the development of such a web application. It should be noted that the survey was designed as a pilot in order to obtain the first results, on the basis of which the methodology will be modified for comprehensive quantitative research with a long-term impact of the proposed web application on students’ learning outcomes.

All of the representatives of partner secondary and higher education institutions (n = 33) perceived the proposed web application as necessary for the teaching of accounting, and beneficial for teachers’ teaching and students’ learning. These findings are consistent with the work of researchers who have developed instructional dashboards for the visualization of learning progress [8,34], and are consistent with the principles of Learning Analytics [9]. The results of the pilot study signal that the app would not represent a problematic didactic resource that would somehow disrupt established teaching methods or significantly reduce educators’ and students’ time spent on mastering the new app. Opinions on the need for the web application and its specific parameters do not differ by country at 95% reliability, divided into representatives of Czech schools and representatives of schools from other countries. This finding is surprising, as the experience of the authors of the study showed that the approach to education at the Czech and foreign higher education institutions is different in the global context. However, this result is explained by a longer-term cooperative relationship between Czech and foreign representatives, and joint projects and ongoing discussions between representatives on pressing issues of educational strategies and approaches. Thus, the partner schools may have influenced each other, which may have resulted in similar responses from the school representatives. It should be noted that this result is not considered a conclusion, but rather a necessity to verify it on the basis of quantitative research. Given that all of the school representatives assessed the concept of the web application as necessary and beneficial, the above result on the undetected differences by country indicates that the needs in teaching accounting in the schools surveyed are the same, and thus teachers and students may encounter similar or the same problems and constraints in teaching and learning, according to the schools’ statements. This was also evidenced by an international study [8,34], the main interest of which was also to examine attitudes towards a visualization-based learning dashboard with learning progress detection. A significant difference was found by the level of education, broken down into secondary and higher education institutions, at the 95% significance level for the parameter of the freely available version of the app. In the research setting of this pilot study, the finding was that this parameter is more important for secondary schools compared to higher education institutions. This may be linked to the way secondary and higher education institutions are funded, and the current needs of schools, which differ, for example, according to the strategic objectives of the school in the context and the demands placed on students. The willingness of colleges to possibly proceed to a paid version of such an application is higher.

The pilot study supported the recognition that higher education institutions consider student–teacher collaboration [8,33], the combination of spoken explanatory commentary with animations to visualize the explanation [33,45], and the simulation of accounting activities [44] to be the most important aspects of accounting instruction. At the same time, this pilot study brings the overlap of this topic to the secondary level of education, which is not mentioned in the studies [8,32,33,34,42]. In these areas, the researchers see an opportunity for further research based on quantitative research. The representatives of the secondary and higher education institutions involved in the research reported a lack of the ability to have computer-automated information about each student’s current abilities and progress in accounting classes, based on which the student can make decisions about his/her further learning and choose effective learning methods, and at the same time, based on which the teacher can make decisions about his/her further teaching and choose effective teaching methods. Furthermore, it is student-centered individualization and the computer-aided detection of student attitudes, i.e., what the student enjoys, is interested in, is surprised by, or finds difficult in accounting cf. [8,34]. Beyond studies [43,44], accounting simulations and computer games were also found to be missing elements in accounting education to support learning. What is surprising to the authors of the study is the absence of the simulation of accounting activities in the teaching of the accounting subject, as such activities are one of the building blocks on which the subject is based. Such activity is also very important for practical preparation for the accounting profession. It will be necessary to examine the frequency of the elements included, which was not dealt with in this study. Furthermore, animations of accounting displays are among the missing elements. The authors [39,40,42] point out the importance of animations for mathematical principles. Furthermore, the reporting of transactions to support learning ability, cf. [16], and the combination of spoken explanatory commentary with animations to support learning ability in accounting courses, cf. [17], were considered to be missing elements. The results indicate that the teaching of the subject of accounting is still close to the traditional mode of education. The researchers consider the above educational aspects in combination with the proposed web application for the teaching of accounting to be important, as it was necessary to establish the interdependence of the need for such a didactic digital tool with the constraints in the teaching of accounting. This leads to the practical implication of the pilot study, i.e., to adapt the proposed didactic tool more effectively to the current educational needs of secondary and higher education institutions.

The correlation analysis shows a significant direct dependence of the usability of the web application in distance learning with the visualization of account parameters (i.e., turnover, opening/ending balance, number of counter-accounts) and reconciliations (amount, impact of the transaction on the statements) using the size, width and colour of objects representing accounts and reconciliations. These parameters are generally important, and the findings support the arguments of the study [45]. Statistical significance was also detected between these specific parameters—the usability of the web application in distance learning and the interactive environment that the application offers for student self-study, in order to provide information about their attitudes, current skills and progress in accounting disciplines, cf. [34]. The surprising result for the researchers is that the need for a web application is not related to the absence of animation and simulation in the subject of accounting, which is evident from the above presented research. This again reveals a style and approach to the teaching of the subject of accounting in which there is still a prevalence of teaching without digital technologies that can support the development of students’ thinking and learning styles, especially by increasing visualization.

A new finding of this study is a significant direct relation between the perceived need for a visualization web application and the computer-automated detection of student attitudes, i.e., obtaining ongoing information about what the student enjoys, is interested in, is surprised by, or is having trouble with, etc., in accounting. The need for a visualization web application correlates positively with the computer automation of having information about a student’s current abilities and progress, based on which the student can make decisions about his/her future learning and choose effective learning methods.

This study revealed that, beyond the studies [8,30,31,32,33,34] that have addressed the automation of the visualization of learning progress, according to application domain representatives (n = 112), the visualization web application the researchers designed is not available on the Czech market, or there is no similar product for the teaching of accounting or other educational needs. The interviewed companies agree on the benefits of the web application for educational purposes. Although 43 companies out of the total sample of 112 are not currently directly involved in this matter, the design of this web application seems to be interesting to these companies, and they have expressed interest in possible cooperation on the research project, which will be a financially demanding activity.

Limitations and Future Work

There are some limitations of this pilot study that point to a number of opportunities for future research. The researchers explored attitudes towards the proposed web application and the educational elements for the teaching of accounting first at partner secondary and higher education institutions. Research oriented towards secondary and tertiary education carries findings from one school representative which is competent in the field of educational strategy and pedagogy, not from every teacher who teaches an accounting subject at that school, which may be a limitation to some extent. The researchers are currently working on this aspect, and are extending the research into quantitative research with the teacher’s perspective. They are also targeting secondary schools from other countries in the future, as part of the extension of the IBW programme specifically to the secondary level. In addition, the research will include secondary and tertiary education students who have studied or are studying accounting. It will be necessary to find out attitudes towards the proposed web application, cf. [34], and other educational elements within the accounting curriculum from them. These responses will need to be compared with the attitudes of teachers to refine the design for the development of a prototype web application to develop accounting thinking skills, to promote students’ self-study and ability to learn, and to monitor their progress in accounting subjects. In accounting subjects, there is a high demand from schools for automated feedback to monitor learning progress, such that this quantitative research will be essential. This research also focused on the opinions of representatives of the application sphere on the availability of the proposed web application on the Czech market, and its benefits. A significant number of companies expressed positive opinions about the proposal. The future development of the web application will first be preceded by the selection of a suitable candidate from among the representatives of the application sphere who were contacted and who perceive the web application proposal to be in line with their goals and needs. Another limitation of the study is that the proposed web-based interactive application will be presented in the form of a description, rather than a prototype for pilot testing. This phase will be launched after the completion of the research oriented towards teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the proposed web application.

5. Conclusions

The main motivation for this pilot qualitative study was to find out where accounting education at secondary and higher education institutions is currently heading, or is desirable to head, in the context of trends from the COVID-19 pandemic, through the preferences of these institutions in the Czech Republic and other countries. Based on the results, a methodology for the continuation of quantitative research will be proposed, which will focus not only on finding out the opinions of teachers and students on the given area but above all on the development of a prototype web-based learning application. Hence, the research was conducted in two basic levels of findings. First was how representatives of partner secondary schools and higher education institutions perceive the proposed web application to develop accounting thinking, in order to promote self-study and students’ ability to learn and monitor their progress in accounting disciplines. Second was how the representatives of the Czech application sector perceive the availability of such a web application on the market. The results showed that the Czech market does not yet offer such a web application, and that the majority of relevant companies are interested in developing such a web-based interactive application. Representatives of partner secondary schools and higher education institutions evaluated it as necessary and beneficial. Its necessity appears mainly in its usability in distance learning with the visualization of account parameters (i.e., turnover, opening/ending balance, number of contra-accounts) and reconciliations (amount, impact of the operation on the statements) by means of the size, width and colour of the objects representing the accounts and reconciliations. The web application can be a useful didactic tool, especially in cases of distance or online learning. The usefulness of the web application appears further in distance learning and the interactive environment that the application offers for student self-study, and for providing information about their attitudes, current abilities, and learning progress in accounting disciplines. This study has practical implications not only for accounting education but also for other disciplines; the findings may be essential in order to advance the quality of student learning and teacher teaching. This study also has practical implications for the field of management. In order to implement such a form of education, teachers need to be trained and students also need to be introduced to the principles of Learning Analytics-based education. This would take time and money in terms of motivating secondary and higher education teachers. The results of the study also have theoretical implications in the field of quantitative research for further comparative research at the level of secondary and tertiary education, with overlap for other countries outside the Czech Republic, and in the field of the modification of the principles and methods of formative feedback based on Learning Analytics.