Cornelis Adrianus van Dorp’s scientific contributions

Cross Border Virtual Entrepreneurship (CBVE) is a multilateral European project under the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013 within the sub programme Erasmus – Cooperation between Universities and Enterprises. It is a collaborative European action by a 6C Consortium which urgently addresses the skills of the lifelong learner in a way that fits the needs of the contemporary learner(s), not (longer) part of traditional cohorts. The main objective is to enhance learners’ professional skills by lifelong, open and flexible learning approaches, with a specific focus on the development, extension and expansion of entrepreneurial skills.

This publication presents the results of European funded research on flexible modality internships. The research was conducted under Cross Sector Virtual Mobility (CSVM): a project co-funded by the European Commission under the Leonardo da Vinci Programme (Lifelong Learning). The main objective: to facilitate (distance education) students to enter into online working, stimulate their employability, and provide (distance) educational systems with increased business and market connectivity by means of flexible modality internships. The publication describes the background of the project CSVM, the theoretical introduction as to why internships are actually needed, the results of the experience survey of conventional internships, the state of affairs of remote internships inside and outside Europe, the overview of technical, pedagogical, organisational, and economic barriers of remote internships, the distinct models identified from research as concerns the organisation of remote internships, the results of actual pilot cases on remote internships as configured and realised by the European partners of the CSVM project, and the development path towards the realisation of the premier European portal for clearing remote internships.

Virtual placements are learning arrangements, which generate new possibilities for accumulating professional (work-based) knowledge. Virtual placements are beneficial in many ways; they merit increased training opportunities, exposure to not/never-thought-of occupations, integration of disadvantaged individuals, and preparation of, and blending with, physical placements. This paper reports about multi-country experiments with technology-enabled remote access to work, as a contribution to the work-based learning and professional mobility of students. The central question is: how may virtual placements be arranged so as to bring a contribution to the development of professional skills and competences? This paper first addresses the contribution of traditional placements, followed by the strengths and weaknesses of virtual ones. Next, real pilots with virtual (work-based) arrangements, are described. Regular universities experiment with virtual placements in on-campus courses and curricula, in frame of self-organised learning, whereas open universities experiment with virtual placements in off-campus courses and curricula, in frame of social-collaborative and networked learning. Subsequently, the results of the different arrangements, their pros and cons, are described. Final conclusions from the study are drawn on the development of professional skills and competences in students, the implemented didactics and the technology applied.