2015

En nuestro país, la formación profesional inicial sigue siendo poco valorada por el alumnado de niveles educativos obligatorios y por sus familias, cuyas aspiraciones educativas se dirigen preferentemente hacia el bachillerato. La revalorización de la formación profesional requeriría el incremento de su calidad, siendo factor clave para ello una adecuada información y orientación. El diagnóstico de las necesidades del alumnado en este ámbito habría de ser el punto de partida para replantear la intervención orientadora.

This paper is part of a Research Project entitled "ORIENT@CUAL. Career and personal development plans in Vocational Education and Training groups". The project has been supported by the National R+D Plan. We report the first results obtained in the pilot evaluation of  the program generated in the project. This program is based on the narrative and systemic approach where these lfisthe key element. Results have been obtained through in-­‐depth interviews (16 students in VET courses). The results indicate that the program contributes to the acquisition of career competences.

There is surprisingly little analysis of the employment and earnings impact on students of taking and completing Internet-based programs and of how it compares with earnings outcomes for graduates of face-to-face universities. This paper analyzes a follow-up survey of students who began attending the virtual Internet-based Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in the early 2000s. We find that, on average, they made smaller percentage gains in earnings than workers of similar age and initial education in the Spanish labor market.

The use of the Internet in higher education teaching can facilitate the interactive learning process and thus improve educational outcomes. The aim of the study presented here is to explore which variables are linked to higher intensity of Internet-based interactive educational practices. The study is based on data obtained from an online survey of students from three different types of universities: a face-to-face university (University of Barcelona, UB), a technological face-to-face university (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.