Using virtual internships as an innovative learning technique

Abstract

Internships have become an important system to bring students, companies and universities closer. It has also become one of the first preferences of students when it comes to complementing their education. However, in a globally connected world, mobility is a great value, being required by most of the professionals. In this way, the concept of virtual internships is being developed as an innovative approach to improve European Engineering Education (EEE). Board of European Students of Technology (BEST) has been playing an active role since 2009 in the establishment and improvement of virtual internships in Europe. This has been happening mainly by two ways: i) the organization of Events on Education (EoEs), each gathering the opinions of approximately 20 European students of technology on educational matters; ii) the participation in both Enterprise-University Virtual Placements (EU-VIP) and Promoting Virtual Mobility in Placements (PROVIP) thematic networks, under the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission. Thus, we present the outcomes of several EoEs in EEE conferences, disclosing the students' point of view regarding two main ideas: the concept and implications of virtual internships in Europe, and a set of guidelines for the communication between stakeholders during virtual internships.