Learners in dual VET face the challenge of combining knowledge, skills and attitudes encountered in different learning locations, like school and the workplace. Connecting these settings to promote integrated vocational learning does not happen automatically; it involves a complex process of contextualisation (including multiple de- and re-contextualisation), and of continuous transformation, in which knowledge is generated across individual as well as social activities. Technology can intervene in the dynamic, supporting this process and leading to effective learning outcomes. Over the years, we have developed and tested a pedagogical model under the hypothesis that technologies can constitute “boundary objects” to better articulate connectivity across VET locations, starting from the principles of experiential learning. In this contribution, after having briefly introduced the model and its theoretical roots, we will present three of its implementations, and the related digital tools. The first is a long-term experience with apprentice chefs using their mobile phones to create their recipe book in an online learning environment: we will show the effectiveness of the intervention on declarative knowledge acquisition, motivation, performance, and perceived connectivity. The second is related to a new learning environment we developed to be used by many professions; we show that when introducing it to the users, a model of training considering the importance of connecting locations is the most effective on the final adoption of the tool. The third case finally concerns a completely different technology, to show that this is not the condition. The case deals with the use of hypervideo at school in several professions to learn professional procedures; similarly, to what happened with the chefs, we will show results on both the cognitive and affective dimensions of learning, as well as on the learners’ and teachers’ perception about how much the intervention is effective in supporting connectivity across locations.

Kim, K. G., Oertel, C., Dobricki, M., Olsen, J. K., Coppi, A. E., Cattaneo, A., & Dillenbourg, P. (2020). Using immersive virtual reality to support designing skills in vocational education. British Journal of Educational Technology, 51(6), 2199-2213.