Learning and skills training in a virtual practice firm

Our educational system is mostly based on knowledge. Knowledge in business is changing constantly: every day new laws, new ways of working, new software programmes are coming out. So when students learn, expiration date for that knowledge is close. But there are some skills that will help students to be successful employees, whatever path they choose, and whatever changes may come. Creativity, problem solving abilities, critical thinking, communication skills, versatility, resilience, … People don’t usually get to develop or explore soft skills through formal classical education.   Likewise, the labour market is demanding digital skills for every single position in the business administration area. Our students need to know how to use a computer, how to use software programs for accounting, for issuing invoices. They need to know how to work remotely, how to communicate online. How to manage social media. How to use online banking tools.   That’s why at our school, IES ARCA REAL in Valladolid, ​w e have set up a simulated company in a classroom, as a pedagogical tool to train our students in business in a practical way (learning by doing). We get them to run their own company, performing actual business tasks like buying and selling their virtual products all around the world, and getting to know the ins and outs of running a small business (SMEs make up 98% of all enterprises in Spain). By managing the day-to-day operations of a company, students not only develop business skills soft skills and an entrepreneurial mindset, they also identify career pathways that align with their interests, and talents.     This virtual company, which is called DECASARRE, is divided into the usual departments, and reproduces all the activities of a real company: marketing, accounting, human resources, sales, purchases, finance,…. We belong to an international practice enterprise network, with more than 7.000 practice firms all around the world. Here in Spain this practice enterprise network is managed by the Inform Foundation. The international net, it is handled by Europen PEN. We use a virtual platform to buy and sell goods from other practice firm. In this virtual platform we find all the usual actors a company will be working with in real life: there are different banks, suppliers, customers, supply services, transport services, governmental institutions,... Here is an example how you can file your VAT returns, which will be then charged (or refunded, shall that be the case) to your virtual bank account. As you can see, although no actual transfer of real goods takes place,the rest of the trade is for real: orders are made, invoices issued, and payments transferred, financial records maintained, … We use software programs and online tools for accounting, banking, for filing taxes, for hiring shipping services ,….. As a result, trainees become familiar with the use of technology for business activities and simultaneously develop their IT skills.  The practise enterprise prepares trainees for the job market. It puts the theory they’ve learned in the security of a classroom into practice in a work-based changing environment, and is often a first work experience for student trainees. Trainees learn many different commercial and entrepreneurial skills such as administration skills, accounting and finance, human resources, marketing, digital skills, communication skills, ... We believe this practice enterprise reinforces academic skills and achievement, reignites interest in education, and raises the desire for self-development and the pursuit of lifelong learning. Trainees are actively involved in the learning process and decision-making activities, increasing motivation, initiative, creativity, responsibility and other soft skills, as mentioned above. Therefore, practice entreprises are also the ideal framework to train and evaluate professional skills and the so called soft skills which can be seen while students work in the practice entreprises such as: initiative, managing and organizing tasks, collaborative working, problem-solving, decision-making, communication, versatility, etc...which are highly valued by employers. This is also a very flexible methodology which allows different educational levels, working experiences and rates of learning of students in the same simulated business, with the possibility to design individual learning paths. Students show their potentials and have the possibility to emphasize their training in a specific office department if they would like to. In addition to that, we integrate the use of the English language in the daily activities of the simulated company. Thanks to the virtual platform, and the international network of simulated companies, students can carry out all kinds of communications in English, always adapting to their level and capabilities. DECASARRE employees learn English by using it, which makes their learning meaningful, unlike the traditional language teaching methodology. We firmly believe that we have the opportunity to make a difference in the training of our students with this bilingual simulation project: it is a real immersion in an international environment. We are not talking about filling in gaps in a sentence, we are talking about using English (or other languages, as well) on a daily basis within the usual activity of the virtual company. We have the opportunity to interact in real time with students and simulated firms from other countries without having to move from our school.     The students also create and maintain a website in English (www.decasarre.com), to increase our international sales. And within the web we have created a new virtual store, which makes it much easier to sell to companies from other countries. There we have a blog as well, which we update periodically with publications in English and Spanish.  Both Inform and Europen organise international events, and there are many international fairs we can attend, now virtually due to the pandemic. Those virtual fairs give an opportunity for trainees to exhibit and market the products/services of their enterprises in a competitive marketplace to local and international colleagues.  German Fair 2020 Virtual Platform

Spanish International Fair 2021 Video

This project provides flexibility in education, since it enables us to work on aspects not included in the official curricula, which is sometimes too late in adapting to a constantly changing business reality. For example, it allows our students to work with new payment methods, such as SEPA credit transfer, SEPA direct debits (Single Euro Payments Area), instead of the traditional bill of exchange, or cheques, which are not that used anymore. We can file tax returns electronically, which is mandatory in Spain, and thanks to the virtual platform, our students get to practice all this, they would't be able otherwise. We would explain them how to do it, we would maybe show them a video about how to do it, but thanks to this virtual platform they can actually DO it. Our trainees also get to manage social networks from a professional point of view. Most of our students have social media accounts, and they believe they are experts, but many times they do not know how to engage people, how to promote posts, how to create quality content to get more followers, how to analyse and use statistics, which rules have to be followed online. This year we won the social media competition organized by Europen for the #EUVocationalSkills Week, the theme was to create one or several posts starting with "I love practise enterprise because...". And this was our proposal (it is one of our employees singing, we believe in promoting and taking advantages of all our students skills, even if they are not directly connected to the job)

Also, by developing this project in a virtual and digital environment, we prepare our students to be digitally skilled, and also train them to face another business reality since the pandemic: remote work. They are ready to work from home, to communicate online, to use videoconference tools,... So even when some of the students have had to stay at home, because they were confined, we were able to keep up the hard work!

Before leaving the simulated company, and every time our trainees change departments, we carry out a performance appraisal, where those digital, communication, and soft skills are tested, and thus the students know which skills they possess, and which ones they have to develop, yet. This year we have been using Corubrics, which is an add-on for google spreadsheets. It is used to assess students (or groups of students) with a rubric designed by the teacher and also allows students to evaluate themselves (self-evaluation) and other students (co-evaluation). This complement automates the entire evaluation process. First, teachers design the rubric they want to use in Google Sheets, then they add the trainees' names and their email address, and once this is done, the add-on will create a Google Form with the contents of the rubric, send the form to the students by email, process the data once the form is filled out (teacher's evaluation, self-evaluation and co-evaluation), and finally, send the results to the students. Each student receives only their results with a personalized comment. This way our students know which skills they possess, and which skills they still have to develop. 

So, this is how we, at IES ARCA REAL, equip our students with the skills we feel they will need to successfully face the job market. We want our students to leave school with a quality mark, as future excellent employees who have a first job experience in an international environment, and who have had the opportunity to explore and develop the most demanded soft skills: creativity, self-organisation, versatility, emotional intelligence, which will accompany them the rest of their lives.