Professional Development by e-learning: examples of effective remote internship models.

Abstract

In today’s (networked) business environment, more and more collaboration takes place through virtual platforms and tools, be it proprietary or open source Web 2.0. For students to experience the practice of virtual cooperation, the development of professional skills and ICT competence by working in virtual teams is recommended. Students however lack a high-level experience of online working in their education and feel accordingly deprived when starting their profession. For students to gain a firsthand experience in online working, placements for gaining ICT and domain experience are needed, which suit the needs of flexible learners. We refer to them as: remote internships. This paper explores the application of the concept of remote internships in relation to professional working situations. Internship collaboration models are described and assessed. Research has been conducted by platform of the Virtual Environmental Consultancy (VEC): a didactic model in which learning and work experience have been fully integrated using distance modality delivery.