an innovative approach for the implementation of ...

AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BLENDED LEARNING IN THE SPANISH VOCATIONAL TRAINING QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK Ignacio Ferrer1, Mariamar Cervantes2, Mario Lázaro1 1 2

Technical University of Valencia (SPAIN) Xabec Vocational Training Centre (SPAIN)

Abstract On-line instruction has become significant especially in higher education –graduate and post-graduate degrees- in which, many Universities exclusively provide on-line degrees. The on-line instruction is also extended in the delivery of short and specialized courses addressed to full-time workers of companies. However, the use of the on-line and/or blended on-line instruction is much reduced for the undergraduate levels, in particular for vocational education and training (VET) qualifications. This paper presents an innovative experience of a Spanish vocational training centre, Xabec, which provides four blended VET qualifications since September 2014. This experience is especially interesting because of two reasons. On the first hand, this is the first Spanish experience in blended learning in VET qualifications in the field of Industrial Maintenance. On the other hand, the student profile is, usually, an adult person, low qualified and a full-time worker that needs an official accreditation of his professional competence. Both aspects, together with the long duration of the qualifications -two-years- have a remarkable influence in the pedagogical principles and in the learning environment design. In the first part of the paper, the theoretical framework based on the Andragogy Model is accurately explained. Then, in the second section the implementation of the blended qualification is precisely described, focusing in relevant issues as the teaching organisation, the mentoring program, videoconference lessons, activities program, workshop practices at the college and the assessment methodology. Finally, we present the main conclusions and the quality indicators. The results have been very satisfactory for the first cohort of graduates because the majority of learners have obtained their qualification. Keywords: Vocational Training, Adult education, Lifelong learning, Industrial maintenance, Blended learning.

1

INTRODUCTION

In the recent decades, the on-line/blended instruction has progressively been implemented at all educational levels. This implementation has become especially significant in the last ten years. The development of electronic devices and improvement of the capacity of the internet network have contributed to spread that kind of instruction. The flexibility and the availability of the contents are advantages specially appreciated for students of higher levels –graduate and post graduate- or parttime adult students who have to attend a lot of extra-academic duties: job and family. Therefore, the use of the distance learning –full or blended on-line- has been extensively implemented in the higher education institutions: Universities, business and management schools, etc… in which many on-line qualifications and courses are available. Those institutions also provide traditional campus-based courses and programs, but also in these kind of courses, the on-line tools are used as a complement to the classroom-based lessons. In the Spanish case, several on-line private universities have appeared in the last decade, being the first of them the International University of La Rioja (UNIR). In the case of the Valencia region, the Valencian International University is a fully on-line university. In the case of the primary and secondary educational levels, schools are completely classroom-based. However, some tools of the on-line instruction have been also implemented as a complement to the traditional lessons, and the use of electronic devices -ipads and smartphones- are used by teachers for learning activities.

Proceedings of INTED2017 Conference 6th-8th March 2017, Valencia, Spain

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ISBN: 978-84-617-8491-2

Vocational Education and Training level has been the last one in adopting this kind of instruction. Since 2008, the European Commission has promoted the Vocational Education and Training as one of the most important strategies to ensure a high qualified workforce and, consequently, competitiveness of the companies. Therefore, European Commission has promoted different vocational training programs to facilitate low-qualified persons the access to an accreditation. The on-line instruction is one of the main tools to accomplish this aim. In Spanish Vocational Education and Training (VET) system we find two types of sub-systems: VET programs provided by the Ministry of Labour –that can be named as continuous education (CVET)that are addressed to adult people who wants to get a job, because they are unemployed, or to improve their competences in their current job; and the VET programs provided by the Ministry of Education –that can be named formal education (FVET)- that are addressed to young people who have finished the compulsory education. Both systems provide accreditations based in the national qualification catalogue that are linked with the occupations that can be performed in Spain. The Spanish Ministry of Labour has recently regulated the on-line instruction for CVET courses (see [1], [2]). In our opinion, the regulation has two important shortcomings: it provides a reduced number of courses of the national qualification catalogue in blended instruction (see the list in [3]), and the technical requisites for the on-line platform and the learning contents are so high that the investment is excessive for small vocational training centres. Therefore, since the publication of this regulation, approximately 50 vocational training centres have got the permissions to provide on-line courses, and all of them are specialized in only 5 areas: administration, commerce, tourism, IT and health. Recently, two colleges have got the permission for farming and transport. Therefore, some accreditations that are highly demanded are not available in on-line instruction, like industrial and maintenance area; as a consequence, many people can not get their accreditation. Therefore, it is difficult to get the objectives proposed by the European Commission with the current Spanish regulation. The situation in FVET subsystem is totally different. The ministry of education has followed a different strategy. Firstly, it is important to clarify that the political system in Spain is not centralized. In fact, the educational and labour competences are regulated by national laws that propose a general framework for all the Spanish regions, but later, each region applies the national law taking into account the particular circumstances of the region. This aspect presents some advantages like the educational offer is adapted to each regions, and some problems, for example the systems are, sometimes, very different according to the region. In the case of the FVET, the Valencia region was pioneer in implementing that on-line instruction. The Valencia Regional law (see [4] and [5]) was very flexible: All VET colleges that deliver a site-based qualification can obtain the permission for providing the same qualification in blended modality if the e-learning platform accomplishes the technical requisites of the regulation [4]. Those requisites were accessible for the most training colleges of the educational network. As a result, the Valencia VET college network provides a wide on-line FVET qualifications catalogue. This is the context in which Xabec Vocational Training Centre has developed a set of FVET qualifications that can be delivered in blended modality. Currently, Xabec delivers four two-year FVET qualifications, all of them focused in industrial maintenance. According to the European Qualification Framework [6], two of them are EQF level 3, - Electromechanical Maintenance and Maintenance of Railway Rolling Stock Technician- and the other are EQF level 4 – Mechatronics and Thermal Installations maintenance-. In this paper, the experience of Xabec in the implementation of the FVET qualifications is presented. The interest of the experience is based in two aspects: this is the first Spanish experience in the implementation of FVET focused in industrial maintenance, and the second is that the qualifications are long duration and addressed to low-qualified adult people, so the pedagogical aspects become essential to the success of the students to get the qualification.

2 2.1

METHODOLOGY Background

Xabec is a VET provider focused on industrial maintenance. This centre often cooperates with the Valencian Employment Service (VES) to develop training programs for unemployed persons. The first experience carried out by Xabec in blended VET was a pilot project promoted by the VES during the academic year 2007/08 in which Xabec cooperated to create on-line platform for adult education.

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The first step of this project was to decide which kind of courses could be included in the platform. At that moment, the most demanded courses were Technician in Renewable Energy –thermal, photovoltaic and wind energy- and Technician of Heating Installations. Therefore, the VES decided to create a pilot on-line course focused in solar energy in cooperation with a specialized company for the creation of learning resources –interactive activities, videos, slides, etc. - and Xabec for the technical supervision of the contents, that is, to check if the contents were updated and accomplished the principles of technical standards in renewable energy. The second step was to deliver a part of the training course –a module of 50 hours duration- to a small group of unemployed people with the aim of testing the platform, the contents and the methodology. Xabec was in charge of selecting the students, teaching/mentoring the course, assessment and doing a quality survey. Finally, the whole course –more than 500 hours duration- was delivered in the academic year of 2009/10 to a group of 30 adult students. The results were very satisfactory, but the project and the platform couldn’t continue on the following years due to the lack of budget of the VES. In addition, this experience was very interesting for teachers and trainees from Xabec, because they participated in training activities addressed to use the on-line platform and to perform the role of mentors/coaches in on-line courses. As a consequence, Xabec decided to continue with the project using its own resources, creating its own e-learning platform in 2011. During the academic year 2011/12, Xabec delivered the first course of Refrigeration Technician of 540 hours duration to a group of workers. Companies paid the cost of course. This experience was very well accepted by the workers because the contents were available 24/7, the calendar was very flexible, and the tutors helped them promptly. The VES cooperated with Xabec to officially recognize the accreditation of the qualification, and during the following academic year 2012/13, VES included this course and the Electricity Technician (also blended course) in their catalogue and interested people could apply for a grant to carry out the course. Therefore, during that year, Xabec trained more than 60 adult unemployed persons in both courses that got the accreditation to work as technician. Later, Xabec has extended the catalogue to tailor-made courses for companies. At the present time, there is a national regulation that demands high quality standards for courses addressed to unemployed people, so, Xabec is now adapting the elearning platform, the learning resources and the set of courses to the new quality standards. Those experiences were very interesting, and Xabec decided to extend the catalogue of blended VET courses to the formal education subsystem, that is, qualification recognized and accredited by the Ministry of Education. The main motivation was the demand of the companies that require highly skilled workforce to be competitive. The Valencian Ministry of Education published in 2009 a law that regulated VET in blended modality. In this manner, VET colleges of this region that delivers on-site qualifications -with compulsory physical attendance- could apply for the permission to deliver the same VET qualifications in blended modality according to the requisites published in the law. Therefore, Valencia VET colleges have been pioneer in blended VET in different professional fields as farming, computers or industry. “EFA La Malvesia”, that is a private Vocational Training Centre focused in farming, was the first in implementing blended FVET in Valencia. In 2013, Xabec implemented the qualifications of Higher Technician in Mechatronics and Higher Technician in Thermal and Fluids Installations Maintenance and in 2014 Technician in Maintenance of Railway Rolling Stock and Technician in Electromechanical Maintenance. At that moment, Xabec was the first VET College in Spain that delivered Industrial Mechatronics Maintenance in blended learning, and nowadays is yet the only one that delivers the qualification of Maintenance of Railway Rolling Stock. The implementation of this kind of qualifications in blended modality presents some important challenges; the most important are the student profile, the long duration of the qualification and the characteristics of the competences required for the technicians in industry. Those challenges have strongly influenced in the pedagogical design adopted to develop the qualifications in blended modality.

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2.2

Pedagogical design

In this section, the pedagogical bases used for the development of the blended learning programs are presented. The pedagogical bases are not presented in an academic manner, but pragmatically, with a practical vision to solve the main challenges mentioned in the former section.

2.2.1

Adult students: flexibility and motivation

From an academic point of view, an interesting research was carried out by Knowles et. al.[7]. He presented six core principles that compose the Andragogical Model. This model and the practical application carried out by Yaoude A. [8] has inspired to us for the design of the blended FVET courses. Candidates who apply for blended VET instead of on-site VET in a vocational college are usually adult people that need the accreditation of the work experience, or to get a new job or a better position in the company. Moreover, they have a lot of extra-academic tasks to attend, so they are “forced” to be part-time students. As a consequence, teachers and mentors have to lead a group of students who are not homogeneous –in knowledge and skills-, in some cases, are low-motivated, and, of course, they need some flexibility. Those aspects are very important for the pedagogical design of the courses. In adult education, each student has his own experiences –academic and professional- so the learning rhythm is absolutely different. Blended learning has an important advantage for this situation. Contents and activities are full-time available, so each student can spend the time he needs for each module. Persons without knowledge can be interested in learning the minimum necessary to pass the exams, but persons with previous knowledge can be interested in learning some specialized topics, usually related to the tasks carried out in their job. In the first case, the mentor requires completing a minimum number of activities to pass the exam, and in the second one, the mentor tries to provide learning resources linked with open resources –in web pages, videos, etc- that can be useful for the interested student. In this manner, student is active in the learning process, and the mentor has the role of guide. In addition, the design of appropriate activities to consolidate the theoretical contents of the learning resources is very important. Finally, a personal coaching is essential through the synchronous tools like chats, phone calls and video-conferences. The condition of part-time students has to be considered when the modules are scheduled. Flexibility is the key aspect: calendars, deadlines, interim exams, etc. However, mentors have to combine the flexibility with the exigency in the accomplishment of the deadlines. In this sense, each module is organized in periods of two weeks, in which students have to carry out the proposed activities. This period seems reasonable to complete the activities. If a student has no enough time he can ask for an extension, and usually mentors allow one extra week more. In the case that a student cannot complete the basic tasks in this additional period, then the mentor allows an extra period during the week before to the interim exams that is exclusively dedicated to consolidate the knowledge and/or complete the pendent activities. Thus, mentor tries that everybody accomplish with the minimum requisites to do the exam. In this manner, all the students are motivated to continue until the end of the module. This strategy is very important to keep the student active during the duration of the qualification. To sum up, the individual coaching through synchronous tools, the design of learning resources and activities appropriated to the different learning rhythms and the accomplishment of relatively flexible deadlines with periodical assessments are the key questions for the success of the student to complete the VET qualification.

2.2.2

Blended learning and practical competences

The first question we make to ourselves about students who want to apply for a blended course in Xabec is: How can they acquire practical skills in a blended course?. The answer is clear: the course is blended. The on-line lessons have to be complemented by a percentage of on-site lessons and workshop tasks. This is especially relevant in the field of industry. However, this solution has to be compatible with the fact that adult students have no time to assist to the college and/or students can live far from the facilities. Another problem is that some students are highly skilled in some areas because they are specialized workers. The strategy adopted by Xabec has been the following: to offer non-compulsory practices –practices on demand- in the workshop during the week of the interim assessment, in which students attend to the exams.

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One month before of the interim assessment week, mentors of each module publish a set of practices that can be done at Xabec’s workshop. Students choose the practices that they want carry out during the assessment week according to their interest and professional experience. In this way, students with a wide job experience are not forced to do all the practices, and they can only apply for the interesting ones. This feature is especially well valued by the students when finish the qualification. Another strategy is the use of “virtual practices” using simulation software. This kind of software is used in the field of robotics, pneumatics- hydraulics and manufacturing processes, and some of them can be interactive with the machinery. So, the question is: Why not control the machinery of the workshop from the student’s home using this kind of software? It would be like a “distance practices”. Nowadays, Xabec is adapting some computers to control Robots, CNC, pneumatic and hydraulic systems. Although a few students have carried out f this kind of practical tasks, they have not yet been extended to all the students. For sure, this is the next step.

2.3 2.3.1

E-Learning environment E-learning platform

Xabec has developed its own Moodle e-learning platform. Since 2011, the platform has been updated to different Moodle versions. Recently, the platform has been updated to the Moodle version 3.1.1+. The main advantage of this version is that students can use their smart phones to access the most part of the tools: tasks, tests, assessment book, etc. Students keep in contact trough the tools available in the platform: message tool and forums. Message tool is used to be in contact with other members of the schools and with the system administrator, while the forum is used for questions related to the technical contents. After the first experiences, we removed the chat tool, because students prefer phone calls for punctual questions. The platform is also equipped with video-conference, but it has been implemented with different software: adobe-connect. It is more practical, as it allows us to organize group meetings and coaching sessions. At this moment, we are satisfied with it. Xabec delivers 4 qualifications that are in two categories: Initial and Advance Vocational training that corresponds to the levels 3 and 4 of the European Qualification Framework. Qualifications are designed to be carried out in two years, but some of the students prefer to do the qualifications in three years in order to be compatible with their job duties. Each qualification is structured in modules; each one can be Specific or Cross-sectional. The cross-sectional modules are the same for all the qualifications and they are English for Industry Technicians, Business and Entrepreneurial Initiative, Professional Training and Guidance, the Final Qualification Project and internship in company. The specific modules are presented in Table 1. Each module has a mentor that is in charge of the students in that module: making available learning resources, publishing activities, doing assessment and delivering coaching sessions. Each module is structured in 16 sections for the first year and 11 sections for the second year. Contents and activities of each section are available during two weeks. Interim exams and on demand practices are done during sections 8 and 16 in the first year, and during sections 5 and 11 in the second year. The list of contents and activities are introduced in the module program available in the header of the module. In addition, a specific module called “Coaching Session” is available for all the students: in this module all the general information is available, for example the use of the Moodle tools, module’s calendars, administrative information, etc. All mentors used the same corporative image, the same methodology and the same rule for the nomenclature of the files.

2.3.2

Asynchronous tools: learning resources, activities and forums.

As it was said, each module is composed by sections. Each section has a set of learning resources and activities. Moreover, there is, at least, one video-conference for a collective coaching session that is recorded and it is available for students who couldn’t attend the live video conference, and the forum that is always available for questions related to the contents of the section. Mentors propose to the students a set of learning resources that can be the following: reading documentation (.pdf or .ppt files), video-tutorials, web pages and interactive resources. Xabec has an internal regulation that suggests that more than 75% of the learning contents should be interactive, in

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order to reduce the reading documents and prevent modules from being a content repository. Xabec suggests to the students to spend 2 hours per week and module, to attend the video-conference and, to read and study the learning resources. Table 1: Modules of the Qualifications Higher Technician in Industrial Mechatronics First year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Mechanic Systems 160 Electrical and Electronic Systems 160 Manufacturing Processes 160 Graphical Representation of Mechatronic Systems 96 Hydraulic and pneumatic systems Machine Elements 96 Second year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Simulation of Mechatronic Systems 60 Configuration of Mechatronic Systems 140 Processes and Management of Maintenance and Quality 120 Integration of Systems 180 Higher Technician in Thermal and Fluids Installations Maintenance First year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Electrical and Automatic Systems 192 Thermal Equipment and Installations 224 Installations Fitting Processes 224 Graphical Representation of Installations 128 Second year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Configuration of Thermal and Fluids Installations 140 Maintenance of Cooling and Air Conditioning Installations 120 Maintenance of Heat and Fluids Installations 120 Fitting, Quality and Renewable Energies and 80/40 Maintenance Management Energy Efficiency Technician in Maintenance of Railway Rolling Stock First year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Engines 192 Brakes Systems in Railway Rolling Stock 160 Comfort and Conditioning 192 Logic Systems of Railway Rolling Stock 160 Basic Machining 96 Second year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Bogie, Buffing and Traction 110 Auxiliary Systems in Diesel Engine 132 Electric Traction 176 Auxiliary Circuits 132 Technician in Electromechanical Maintenance First year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Production Techniques 224 Electricity and electronic automatisms 224 Pneumatic and Hydraulic automatisms 256 Bonding and assembly techniques 96 Second year: Modules Hours per First term Second term year Mechanical Assembly and Maintenance 198 Electric-electronic Assembly and Maintenance 176 Assembly and Maintenance of Automated Lines 176

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Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw

Individual Mentoring 3 hpw 3 hpw 3 hpw 1 hpw

2 hpw Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw 4 hpw

4 hpw Individual Mentoring 1 hpw 5 hpw 4 hpw 5 hpw

Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw

Individual Mentoring 4 hpw 5 hpw 5 hpw 2 hpw Individual Mentoring 5 hpw 4 hpw 4 hpw 6 hpw 2 hpw

Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw

Individual Mentoring 4 hpw 3 hpw 4 hpw 3 hpw 4 hpw Individual Mentoring 3 hpw 4 hpw 6 hpw 4 hpw

Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw

Individual Mentoring 5 hpw 5 hpw 6 hpw

2 hpw Collective Mentoring 2 hpw 2 hpw 2 hpw

4 hpw Individual Mentoring 5 hpw 6 hpw 6 hpw

After this time, the student can carry out the activities. The most common activities are tests, tasks and forums. From our experience, our conclusion is that forums are the most useful activity, as they encourage the students to have an active participation in technical discussions. Tests are commonly used for the assessment and self-assessment and our experience shows that they are very useful to consolidate the learning of the contents presented in the section. Finally, tasks are used for relevant projects that can be carried out during the term, although it can be used for short tasks. Xabec suggests to spend between 3 and 5 hours per week and module for the activities according to the time indicated in the last column of the Table 1; individual mentoring.

2.3.3

Synchronous tools: individual and collective coaching sessions

As it can be expected, the synchronous tools are the least used in the learning environment. We have two synchronous tools: Collective and Individual coaching sessions. During each section, one Collective Coaching session is programmed according to the schedule published at the beginning of the course. In this coaching session, the mentor explains the technical contents of the learning resources and introduces the activities. This is one of the best moments to ask questions and to be in contact with the fellow students. Xabec suggests to the students to attend to this coaching sessions, and we found out that students that live close to our facilities attend the session at school. For Individual Coaching Sessions, the mentor has a schedule for attending individually to the students. These sessions can be done at school, by phone or video-conference. The attendance to the individual and collective coaching sessions is totally voluntary.

2.3.4

Assessment book

The assessment book is one of the most important tools of the blended VET instruction. This is the summary of the student’s activity. The assessment book is divided in three parts: activities, projects and exams. According to the regulation, the exam must have a value higher than 50% of the total marks. Activities (tests, tasks, and forum) and projects have the remaining value of the total mark. Students have to complete at least 80% of the activities and projects in order to be able to take the exam. If they don’t accomplish this requisite, then they can attend to the final exam. The percentage of each item (exams, activities and projects) is proposed by the mentor of each module and is published in the header of the module.

3

RESULTS

In this section, the results of the implementation are presented and some observations and consequences are also introduced. The results are based on educational outcomes, on the opinion surveys of mentors and students. Only a group of students has completed a qualification, so the results are only preliminary. In September 2014, Xabec started two qualifications: Industrial Mechatronics Maintenance and Thermal and Fluid Installations Maintenance. Xabec received the permission only one month before the starting of the academic year, so a few people –only 14 students- applied for the courses. All students were workers; the majority of them had a job related to the vocational qualification. They come from different cities: Madrid, Albacete, Cordoba, Castellon and Valencia. Most of them wanted to complete the qualification in two years, with the exception of a student from Madrid that preferred to spend three years. After two years, one student lost his job, and he asked for doing the qualification at Xabec as a fulltime student (on-site- modality), another student decided to leave the qualification due to personal circumstances and finally, after the first year, another student decided to do qualification in three years. So, 10 students of the initial group of 14 students finished the qualification in June of 2016. All of them decided to validate the professional experience to avoid the period of internship in companies. In the present academic year, more than 100 students are participating in those qualifications. The marks were generally good, with the exception of two students, who had a limited previous knowledge of the area. The coaching of their mentors was essential to the success of those students. So, one of the first result is that the role of the mentors is the key of the student success. One of the most important results are that the marks are higher in the modules with better quality in learning resources, because students spend more time when the learning resources are friendly and activities

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are more attractive. Therefore, the quality of the learning resources and activities has a strong influence in the motivation of the student. The results of the opinion surveys show that students appreciate the flexibility of the calendar and the help of the mentors. The opinion of the quality of the learning resources and activities depends on the mentor of the module. Some of them are very creative and skilful with software, but there are other teachers that have to improve their competences in making quality learning resources. So, the implementation of the blended instruction needs training courses for teachers that have to play two roles: mentors and creator of learning resources and activities. The extra-academic activities are also well valued, especially the welcome session of the first year, and the help that Xabec has offered to students during the exams week for finding accommodation, arrangement of travels, etc. They feel that our school is not only a studying space, but it is a place where mentors try to help them. They feel that behind the computer screen there is the Xabec staff – teachers, mentors and managers- that are interested in their success. It creates a trust feeling that helps to avoid conflicts and increase the student motivation. So, the welcome activities are very important for the success of students. The opinion about the practices is not bad, but this is the weakest item in the quality survey. However, the blended instruction has an objective shortcoming: learners come to college only two weeks during the year, and, some of them prefer not to do the workshop practices. Therefore, the solution cannot be to increase the period of time at the school. This is impossible for people who live far from Valencia, because they don’t have time to do it and it can be expensive. So, Xabec is now trying to adapt their computers and a part of the machinery for doing “virtual practices”. In our opinion, this is the most important challenge for the future. Finally, we analyse the opinion of the mentors. In general, they are very committed with this project. They have made a great effort to create learning contents, especially during the first year. Although all mentors have participated in different training courses –technical courses for the creation of learning resources, Moodle tools, or pedagogical principles of blended instruction- they need more training. They suggest sharing experiences between them, so the most skilful and creative mentors can help to the others. During the current academic course, technical training courses and periodical meeting have been programmed, and some specialist in creation of learning resources is now improving some modules.

4

CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, the experience of the first Spanish private vocational training centre specialized in industrial maintenance that has implemented blended vocational qualifications has been accurately described. The e-learning platform and the learning program have been designed taking into account the students’ profile, that are generally, working adult people, so flexibility and motivation are the key for the success of the project. Another important aspect is that industry demands very practical competences and skills, so the organization of practice periods at school’s workshops is important. The results show that the role of the mentors and the quality of the learning resources and activities are very important for the motivations of the students. Other remarkable aspect is that welcoming activities are very appreciated for the students. The main aspects for the improvement of the quality of the blended instruction is to incorporate to the staff an specialist in the creation of learning resources and the implementation of the “virtual practices”.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Authors want to acknowledge the significant contribution to the project of Celia Ruiz, from the Valencia Employment Service, who suggested to Xabec the implementation of the blended instruction in CVET in 2007, and to Manuel Fernandez from “EFA La Malvesia” Vocational Training Centre who helped us in the implementation of FVET. Authors want also to thank to all the Xabec staff for their commitment in the project, especially to Serafin Fernandez, who created the e-learning platform, and teachers who contributed to the pilot courses: Blas Giner, Vicente Belenguer, Miguel Ángel Mascarell, Carlos Hoyos and Victor Sopena.

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REFERENCES th

[1]

Royal Decree 189/2013, March 15 2013 published in the Spanish Parliament Official Journal, num. 69, sect. I, 22411-22434

[2]

Order ESS/1897/2013, October 10 2013. Published in the Spanish Parliament Official Journal, num. 249, sect. I, 84275-84536.

[3]

Resolution of May 26 2014. Published in the Spanish Parliament Official Journal, num. 145, sect. I, 45154-45186.

[4]

Order from May 4 2009 of the Valencia Regional Ministry of Education. Published in the Valencia Region Parliament Official Journal, num. 6037 of 17/06/2009.

[5]

Resolution from September 15 2010 of the General Directorate of Evaluation, Innovation and Educational Quality and VET in the Valencia Region. Published in the Valencia Region Parliament Official Journal num. 6371 de 07/10/2010.

[6]

Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of the European qualifications framework for lifelong learning. European Parliament Official Journal C 111, 6.5.2008, 2008.

[7]

Knowles, M.S., Holton, E.F., and Swanson, R.A. (2015). The Adult learner: The definitive th classic in adult education and human resource development. 8 ed., Oxford: Routledge.

[8]

Yaoude, A. (2016). The effective blended tutor: supporting adult learners studying part-time, th vocationally relevant degrees at a distance. Proceedings of the 10 International Technology, Education and Development Conference, 1589 – 1598.

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