1. IAEVG 3-5 June 2009 University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland “Effective use of educational and vocational guidance services in distance education: the USGM experience from Italy” Viviana Boccardi & Laura Ricci International Relations Office Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi relint5@unimarconi.it l.ricci@unimarconi.it www.unimarconi.it

2. INDEX  USGM pre-academic guidance  USGM intra-academic guidance 1.General information Centre 2.Administration Centre 3.Motivational Counselling Centre and Tutorial System 4.Help Desk  USGM post-academic guidance  PARMENIDE project

3. Headquarter: - Rome Regional Offices: - Lombardy - Liguria - Piedmont - Puglia - Campania - Calabria - Sicily - Sardinia European Office: Athens, Greece USGM LOCATIONS

4. CAREER CHOICE Media constantly provide a distorted and misleading view of reality Secondary school often lacks of efficient guidance services and support OFFHAND AND WRONG DECISIONS

5. USGM pre-academic guidance… in what does it consist? Scheduled interventions in High Schools:  to orientate young people and their parents in the university faculty choice  to make them aware of the new opportunities coming from the innovative learning environments

6. USGM intra-academic guidance 1.General information Centre 2.Administration Centre 3.Motivational Counselling Centre and Tutorial System 4.Help Desk

7. USGM intra-academic guidance 1.General information Centre Information and course descriptions are provided and brochures, CD-Roms and other information material are freely distributed to both enrolled and not yet enrolled students

8. USGM intra-academic guidance 2.Administration Centre It provides students with information on the administrative charges and the University policy and procedures

9. USGM intra-academic guidance 3.Motivational Counselling Centre & Tutorial System It is constituted by a group of psychologists helping learners to choose their study course during the enrollement phase Students are assisted during the whole educational path

10. USGM intra-academic guidance 3.Motivational Counselling Centre & Tutorial System For each single subject, students receive a customized assistance from a tutor who takes account of their different demands and supports them in the development of personal learning paths and towards the achievement of professional skills.

11. USGM intra-academic guidance 3.Motivational Counselling Centre & Tutorial System Pedagogical issues (appropriate education experience) Social, professional, communication and technical skills Tutors often work alongside technical experts and instructional designers

12. USGM intra-academic guidance Q.How to build and maintain a good level of interaction in distance tutoring? A.The implementation of ICTs plays a crucial role in the improvement and optimization of relationships between tutors and learners Besides web conferencing, chat, website links, newsletter and surveys, USGM adopts a Multimodal Integrated System for Didactics, an innovative learning methodology arising from the e- learning, m-learning and t-learning solutions 3.Motivational Counselling Centre & Tutorial System

13. USGM intra-academic guidance 3.Motivational Counselling Centre & Tutorial System It allows students to learn in a fast and efficient way, choosing the digital tool/s that better responds to their needs: Web platform (TV / PC), PDAs, Mobile phones, etc.

14. USGM intra-academic guidance 3.Motivational Counselling Centre & Tutorial System  Online activities  Synchronous and asynchronous interactive education (virtual classroom, videoconferencing, online libraries etc.) The most used support is the e- learning platform, Virtual C@mpus:

15. USGM intra-academic guidance 3.Motivational Counselling Centre & Tutorial System Different learning needs Self-paced and personalized learning paths Traceability WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES… PERSONAL ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIO  Attendance  Efforts, progress and achievements  Intermediate and final evaluation marks  Tutor’s comments and remarks  Etc.

16. USGM intra-academic guidance 4.Help Desk (available 24 hours a day) In charge of: -Handling students’ username & password -Answering customers’ questions about web platform - Updating information -Filling in the study plan and the exam calendar -Managing FAQs

17. USGM post-academic guidance Placement and career centre  Advice on the different job opportunities offered at local, national and international level  Meetings with entrepreneurs, associations, public and private bodies  Agreements with public and private companies to:  carry out research programs using USGM graduate students  offer them opportunities of stage  train and recruit future managers

18. USGM post-academic guidance 5.Placement and career centre

20. PARMENIDE Project – Promoting Advanced Resources and Methodologies for New Teaching and Learning In Digital Education An experience in the field of virtual tutoring… PARTNERS: Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi, Italy UNED, Spain Bourgas Free University, Bulgaria Soluzioni Informatiche, Italy University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania Foundation for Research and Technology, Greece FUTUREtec, Germany Realized by the USGM International Projects and R&D Office Co-funded by the Leonardo Da Vinci Programme

21. The TARGET GROUP: The final recipients: the users, who will benefit of the new learning methodology (students, transport sector employees) The intermediate recipients: the teachers / trainers, who will be involved in the conception phase, planning and production of contents http://parmenide.unimarconi.it/ing/parmenide.html A methodology that combines a distance learning environment with an educational system based on Intelligent Agents PARMENIDE Project

22. The virtual tutor:  shows students how to carry out tasks and to enhance a pragmatic approach to solve problems  evaluates the students’ performances and adapts the teaching method according to particular environments  guides and supports users during their learning path with “learning by doing” methodology http://parmenide.unimarconi.it/ing/parmenide.html PARMENIDE Project

23. Thank you! Kiitos! Viviana Boccardi & Laura Ricci International Relations Office Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi relint5@unimarconi.it l.ricci@unimarconi.it www.unimarconi.it