Effective use of educational and vocational guidance services in distance education : the experience of USGM, Italy

Abstract

Efficient educational and vocational guidance services are more and more necessary to guide young students and professionals to the choice of suitable learning paths. In the distance education context, guidance and counselling services play a crucial role in the students course selection as well as in the management of studies and in the reduction of the drop out rate. This paper describes the experience of the Università degli Studi “Guglielmo Marconi” in the study and research of effective guidance services able to fulfil the needs of different kind of users. Starting from a very heterogeneous student target, USGM guidance project has been conceived to increase the number of people experiencing higher education with a positive impact on the current work system. A wide range of services are offered to students during the whole educational path, especially in the crucial moments such as curriculum choice, study plan and order of the exams, postgraduate studies, possibilities of internship and stages. The USGM Guidance Office includes the following centres that are in continuous interaction through an integrated communication system: - General information centre - Administration centre - Motivational counselling centre and Tutorial System - Help Desk - Placement and career centre.