European countries have set themselves 22 specific goals by 2014 to support their long-term vision for vocational education and training (VET). This report is a first step in understanding progress by mid-2012 towards these goals, endorsed in 2010 in the Bruges communique to help achieve the Europe 2020 agenda. Attention has clearly focused on…

The focal goal of this research was to extend the empirical effort on business simulations as a form of experiential learning by providing the first empirical analysis of business acumen and knowledge application skills. Disruptions in technology are providing more opportunities to improve the simulation gaming learning experience and a number of…

This exploratory qualitative study examines computing professional's memories of their own formal and non-formal educational experiences, their reflections on how these have prepared them for their professional roles, and their recommendations for an "ideal" undergraduate degree program. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews of…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyse the experiences of student teachers and mentors regarding in-service teacher-training or the "Learning in the Workplace Trajectory" (LIW) in Flemish secondary schools. How is this trajectory perceived by mentors and student teachers, i.e. do their individual expectations and capacities match…

"The Road to Recovery: Projecting U.S. Job Growth and Higher Education Demand through 2020" (this issue, p26-29) presented six key indicators that highlighted the latest in education and employment needs for the success of the future jobs market. While the U.S. economy is growing, questions still remain: What skills do employers value…

After centuries of rethinking education and learning, the current theory is based on technology's approach to and affect on the planned interaction between knowledge trainers and trainees. "Online Tutor 2.0: Methodologies and Case Studies for Successful Learning" demonstrates, through the exposure of successful cases in online education…

There are growing pressures for community colleges and regional universities to accommodate the rise in student enrollment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate access and funding issues across public higher education institutions in the United States. Responses to a survey, conducted by the Education Policy Center at the University of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the theoretical link between blogs and organisational learning. It aims to provide a set of practical guidelines on how to overcome the challenges of implementing an organisational blog. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review will be used to examine blogs and their association towards…

Purpose: This explorative research aims at examining the social representation of psychosocial training in NPOs managers. Design/methodology/approach: An adopted multiple research approach was adopted to analyse a corpus of qualitative data. A detailed semi-structured interview was administered to 122 senior managers of as many Italian NPOs.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to offer a theoretical contribution to explicate the various factors and aspects that influence Senge's five disciplines and their outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of antecedents and outcomes of Senge's five disciplines, and offers moderators to…

Epistemic beliefs comprise the individual understanding of the nature of knowledge and the creation of knowledge. Hence, they impact the perception of learning opportunities and professional learning activities. Many enterprises apply computer technology in order to support staff development through e-learning activities. However, a closer look at…

This paper addresses the composite question of whether it is better in vocational education to allow students to design their own models and guide them while doing so, or to provide them with ready-made models. To answer this question we set up a design experiment in which students were asked to work on real-life assignments, guided by teachers in…

In Finnish VET, students' work experience is explicitly defined as workplace learning, instead of the practice of already learnt skills. Therefore, vocational students' learning periods in the workplace are goal-oriented, guided and assessed. This paper examines the characteristics of students' workplace learning and compares them with the…

The aim of this paper, based on a comparative viewpoint from an European outsider perspective, is to present a brief historical reconstruction of the pedagogical and educational political discussion about education for the industrial sector in America. The discussion was triggered by the emerging idea that one of the principal tasks of education…

This article discusses the relation between experience and learning in the context of recognition of prior learning (RPL) and from an experiential constructivist perspective. The study is based on a case of in-service training, based on RPL, in the care sector for elderly people. The data consist of interviews with actors in this process, which…