IT-SUPPORTED LIFELONG LEARNING PRACTICES IN DANUBE REGION COUNTRIES
IT-SUPPORTED LIFELONG LEARNING PRACTICES IN DANUBE REGION COUNTRIES
Roxana Postelnicu,C. Bodea,4 Authors,M. Dascalu
TLDR
The current paper proposes an innovative model for connecting the traditional universities learning environment with modern IT-supported lifelong learning practices in order to provide the graduate students the opportunity to find suitable professional e-communities, in which they can enhance their chances of getting a more rewarding job.
Abstract
In Danube region various difficulties related to the employment of knowledge workers have occurred, e.g. decrease of job security over the career, high probability of having obsolete professional competences in a short period of time, incapacity of choosing the suitable working place according to one's education, aspects which conducted to a decrease in life satisfaction.
The current paper is a survey of the specific situation of Danube region countries related to lifelong learning practices with the purpose of increasing one's employability and, consequently, quality of life. In order to offer a realistic description of those practices, the cultural and social values of people in this region with regard to job seeking and job holding are also debated. Among lifelong learning activities, a special place is taken by the IT-supported ones, including extensive use of virtual communities, social networks or online learning environments. Based on a qualitative analysis, we provide an answer to the question whether these modern lifelong practices, are aligned with the life values of Danube region people.A special attention is given in our survey to the case of university graduates engaged in lifelong learning practices correlated with their occupational employment. We even propose an innovative model for connecting the traditional universities learning environment with modern IT-supported lifelong learning practices in order to provide the graduate students the opportunity to find suitable professional e-communities, in which they can enhance their chances of getting a more rewarding job. We claim that our solution has the potential of generating added value for Danube region, by increasing the knowledge level of the countries within the region and the employability level of the university graduates, by providing the organizations the needed skilled workers, thus raising their competitiveness and by strengthening the collaboration between universities and organizations.