In the dual-track Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, apprentices gain experiences in different learning locations (i.e. workplace and school) but the bridges between these experiences are difficult to construct. Mobile devices could help to promote connectivity across learning contexts, provided they are accepted by the various persons and institutions involved. Ease of use and usefulness, here interpreted as the main elements of usability in the large, are indicators of the acceptance of mobiles. We involved apprentices from three different professional fieldscooks, pastry cooks and car mechanicsand two different mobile devicesheadband cameras and smartphones. These devices served to capture visual material on professional situations lived at the workplace. Different software applications were then used to allow such material to be brought to school and discussed with teachers and classmates or shared with supervisors at work. To evaluate the usability of such tools we used a five-section questionnaire mainly based on the TAM and UTATUT model, which had been adequately adapted to the peculiarity of the VET system. Results confirm the feasibility of the approach and the usability of both tools: no significant difference is shown, neither between the two devices in the same field, nor between the different professions with respect to the same device. These results underline the potential of mobile devices to foster connectivity between learning locations in VET.

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In the 'dual' system of vocational training, working in company represents the major part of training. At the workplace, apprentices are expected to acquire the typical skills of their profession but, at the same time, to contribute to the production of the company. For this reason apprentices are expected to carry out activities on their own from early on in their training and to ask for help only when they need it. Learning to ask questions and to seek help appropriately is, therefore, an important competence for learners to acquire during vocational training, just as it is important for the company to offer the learner every opportunity to ask for help when needed. In this study, we used mobile phones to follow at a distance 19 apprentices in car mechanics at the workplace. We then analyzed a corpus of approximately 77 hours of work, in search of all questions and requests they addressed during this time. Data

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In Switzerland, 99% of teenagers own a mobile phone and use it as their primary spare-time activity. Exploiting the affordances that mobile devices have for fostering learning across contexts is therefore imperative for the educational community. This is especially true in the case of dual vocational education and training (VET) – a field under-investigated with respect to mobile learning – where apprentices alternate between a company and vocational school. After introducing the major issues characterising mobile learning and their relevance to the VET context, the paper presents a project involving apprentice chefs and their teacher, with the aim of exemplifying and exploring VET learning between workplace and classroom, as a conversation between the learner, the teacher and the in-company trainer, and to evaluate the results of its implementation in terms of usability, effectiveness, and satisfaction.

Reflection is essential for professional competence development in every profession. Reflection-on-action (taking place a posteriori, when the task is already accomplished) and reflection-in-action (occurring while performing the task) are equally important to increasing one’s professionalism. Some evidence supports the effectiveness of promoting the former by using metacognitive prompts that encourage vocational education apprentices to reflect. However, it is unclear to what extent this approach is effective to promote their reflection-in-action, to increase the quality of their professional performance, and to establish a long-term attitude to reflect on-action. Using a thinking aloud technique, we asked 15 apprentice chefs to cook a recipe and video-recorded them. When finished, we asked them to complete a report that self-assessed their performance. Nine of them were accustomed to metacognitive prompts to reflect on their practice, the others not. The former group outperformed the latter in the quality of their reflection-in-action. Also, the quality of their performance, according to two experts’ assessment, was significantly better. Finally, their reflection-on-action was higher. Despite its limitations due to the small sample, the study represents a good premise to confirm the effectiveness of our pedagogical approach and transfer it to other initial vocational education professions.

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The dual-track system characterising Swiss Vocational Education and Training (VET) is based on the alternation of three learning locations: the school, the training company, and intercompany courses organised by occupational organisations. In this way, apprentices gain experiences in different contexts, which then have to be connected in a unique knowledge corpus in order to develop real professional competences. However, the different decision-making bodies involved in VET perceive a gap in the learning among the different contexts, for example consistency of work procedures. The two studies presented here focus on mobile technologies and Web 2.0-supported collaborative writing as examples of the use of technology in professional education to bridge this gap. The results emerged in terms of ease of use, perceived usefulness of the artefacts, and in terms of pedagogical added value of the instructional design. The findings confirm that the underlying pedagogical model is valuable and further research is warranted.