Education Week 2016: Graduate Certificates

Education Week 2016: Graduate Certificates
Summary: During the Education Week 2016, we had the chance to get to know the graduate offer of Spanish Business, Design, and Marketing Schools, as well as from Universities all over the country.

Graduate Certificates In Education Week 2016

The Education Week 2016 has accommodated many booths occupied by some of the most representative companies in the education sector, training, and knowledge management. We talked to some Universities and Business Schools about their current graduate offer, as well as various students attendees, and here we show what they have told us:

Students (15 Years Old) 

Student 1: "I came looking for Humanities and Law, and I found more than I expected. I found Humanities and Law and History as well. In addition, I have found professional training and degrees to complement it and I think it has been very good."

"At first, there are a lot of people and I would improve the access and schedules, but other than that, it has been all right."

"I still have to think about it, but I initially intended to study Health Sciences and I was choosing between two paths, but now, because of the information that I have been able to receive in the various universities, I've totally decided the career I want to study, which is Biology, and it is pretty good, because they explain it in a simple way, they help you to understand it perfectly, and then they are also very well organized."

"Maybe in the morning there are too many people and you're wasting a lot of time in queues and there are times that you get entertained a lot, but they also have to inform you, so they should regulate a bit about the schedule and the number of people who get access, and also the schools: they have to organize the issue of whether there are five or eight schools coming, to establish turns".

"There are many queues and moving around is difficult as well. It takes you a little longer than now, that there is almost nobody; it is a question of moving around without getting suffocated".

"I sincerely believe that studying something for money, eventually you'll end up getting tired, and even if you have a lot of money you're going to get tired and go out, and honestly, if you like something, just go for it, no matter what they tell you about it. You like it, and it’s your life and your world."

Student 2: "I have a story similar to my sister 's: I also wanted to study medicine and they have now explained to me quite well the differences between one career and another, and the truth is that you do have to toy with the idea, and overall it's pretty good."

"In colleges’ stands, I would like them to reflect better what are the sections they are specialized on, because sometimes you're waiting in line and when you arrive they tell you: 'No, it is not here, you have to go to the other end of the stand and you have to get informed there', then, of course, you waste a long time on that. There are some universities which have a good and visible information, you have it hanging from the ceiling, but others do not explain anything, and then they are sending you from one place to another."

"I want to do research, but in Spain there is little output and I probably will have to go abroad, but it is also an idea that was preconceived, because I love learning languages, learning other cultures... Maybe it is a bit more difficult to get away from home or your family or the place where you grew up, but I do not care, because I can develop myself, to expand my culture and my knowledge, and it's something I've always been willing".

Student 3: "I also hope that when we finish our studies, which will be in ten years from now, as Medicine takes six years and I will have to take a specialty, I hope that by then the situation in Spain will improve. I would be in a laboratory researching many things like pathologies of diseases, which has become somewhat obsolete; I would like to study about the onset of diseases and help people to improve on that."

Students (17 Years Old)

Student 1: "More than anything, we have come here to clarify, to get to know what to choose after the selectivity exam. To me, it has generated me more questions, because I came with clear ideas of what I wanted to look, and all I needed was some people who had already had the experience telling me a bit more of what everything was like".

"It seems to me that there are more stands not only from public universities, but from private education. Most people cannot afford a private university. I am interested in the career of Humanities or English. There is no profession that gets my interest. I want to study something that I like and from there, wherever I will be hired, it will be fine."

Student 2: "I have also come to know more about my future, to find a way out, because I was not sure about what to do, and it helped me seeing the options according to my chosen career. I'm about to choose university. I am among Archaeology and Humanities. I have not decided it yet, so I came. I want someone who has studied the same career to explain to me how teachers are, etc. They are students that tells you about their experience".

"From the fair, I would improve the organization of how universities are set, because it is not visible".

Pre-University Students

Student 1: "I especially have looked for people who have done this career, to give me good advice, so that when studding it, I will receive a lot of help to take it forward. It is the aviation pilot career. I have been informed well and the truth is that I will go forward. I came to the fair with very clear ideas, but more or less I have learned well about the subject. The fair seems to me that it's okay, I would not change anything."

"I appreciate so much that I like the studies I take as that these studies then help me to earn money, because a job, no matter how much do you like it, if you cannot live with it, then it’s not really useful."

Student 2: "I came to get some ideas apart from which I already had, and some advice from people who have already taken the career. About the fair, I would mostly improve the cleaning, but otherwise it is fine. I came looking for some Social different things, Police, Red Cross ... Yes, it has helped me."

Education Week 2016: GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

Education Week 2016: Graduate And Postgraduate Education 

"I choose thinking about what I like to study and in my professional career, considering both, considering what I like, but then if I’m going to earn money, in order to decide whether it is better or not."

ISIC

ISIC is the international student card.

"It is valid for 130 countries and has more than 55000 discounts; among them, the most important has 50% discount or free admission, in the cultural centers of those 130 countries. For students like us who travel much and that what we will see are the exhibitions, museums, it is much cheaper. There is no age limit. It is from zero to one hundred years, but is only for people who are studying, it does not matter whether it is high school, college, an English course, or whatever, but he/she has to be enrolled in a course."

"The office is in Moncloa in Ferdinand 88 and it is also available online. It costs 9 euros per year and it covers 12 months. It is worth for people traveling by bus (Alsa), with 15% discount forever; we also work with the VIPS group, Red refrigerator, Apple, different airlines, fast food restaurants..."

"On the web every discount is displayed, depending on the country, you can find the country where you want to go. Isic.es is the page where the personal license is requested. ID card is requested, a photograph and a document proving that you are studying (tuition, grades, a document from the center with your name and it the current year and there will be no problem). There is also a Facebook prize, through Isic Spain, where two flights to Brussels are drawn."

European University 

"The European University is one of the more than 80 institutions that are part of the Laureate International Universities network. It is a network of higher education institutions worldwide. We are in the five continents. Right now we are 88 institutions. We are present in more than 28 countries."

"Our offer is very wide. We train students in content, as it has traditionally been done, and in skills and especially in values. It is a very comprehensive training of the student. 24% of our students are international. There are 88 different nationalities and 70 bilingual education programs."

"What we do a lot is interdisciplinarity. What we are trying is that the student not only acquires the skills corresponding to the degree he/she studies, but also interact with other colleagues in the sector. They are students who do not study the same degree, but in the professional field they will have to cooperate: For example, a doctor interacts with a pharmacist, a psychologist, a nurse... So we put students with different degrees, interacting among them. We mix both face to face and online classes".

"Our online methodology fundamentally differs from the competition because it is the closest thing there is to in class learning, because it has a professor available at all times on the other side. The subjects are taught in the quarters that are taught, is not like the old methodology online where I will transfer an online documentation and you get tested at the end, no. There are some units in all subjects, there is a teacher on the other side, there are multimedia resources, there are deliveries patterned with time limited entries in the platform, and then they face tests at the end of the course to ensure that there is no error on learning, regardless of the specific tests that are taken with online assessment methodology."

"On the online materials, what we incorporated in 2015 was a small percentage in classroom grades, what we call the hybridization process, which in the future will become 25%, so that some subjects will be taught with online methodology, because we believe that is the future; It is not a matter of preference or utility. Our students have to be prepared at all times for classroom methodology, which is a longer historical methodology, but above all, also for an online methodology. This is already integrated in all grades in cross subjects of the University."

"We use the methodology of project-based learning. It is also a backbone of the entire European university. Some people call it learning by doing; for example, in the school of architecture they call it so; It is a more specific method in architecture, but it is practically a leitmotif of the entire university, it is learning by doing, it is a project-based learning, because we believe that for a student to cause an impact in their sector, from day 1 their training has had to have a foot in college and one foot in the company."

"For example, in communication: Our students, from day one, are in laboratories, either TV, radio, our digital newspaper, our protocol agency, our translation agency, the musical laboratories... From the very first day, because it is basic; we do not understand the academic methodology otherwise. It is the only way, it is a credo of the European University, that when the student reaches the employer, they tell us that he/she gives them the feeling that the student already had work experience. Somehow they did, because although they had been doing internships in companies from third and fourth grade, from the first course they were already working within the university laboratories. That is the secret of success. Our philosophy is: Let's have the best partner: We have the best teachers, the best facilities".

"The Alcobendas campus is a very business oriented campus. Hence, social sciences and communication are their fields. There are also many postgraduate certificates. There's the Impact Business School, which we released in 2016, where postgraduates in Communication are given, and it is a kind of laboratory networking, which the university has. It does not mean that we also do not have so in Villaviciosa, because we also impart many postgraduates in Villaviciosa, especially those that are not related to the business world."

"Another of our identity clues is to invite professionals to classrooms, also from the degree. For example, in communication, we have the communication week from 18 to 22 April 2016; in 2015 the former President Zapatero inaugurated it. Nacho Villalonga also attended. This year Iñaki Gabilondo inaugurated the course of Journalism. The audiovisual communication course was inaugurated by Antonio Resines. The master classes are given because they have much to do with that project-based learning, because they have much to do with having one foot in college and one foot in the company. The movement of professionals in the company is permanent, and yes, they have to be the best, because it is part of the academic model: I bring someone here to be a representative model of the sector, so that our students have the sector in the classroom."

"For the European University, the ratio of employability which is mentioned in many universities is basic. That does not mean, for example, that there are no interesting careers with a market area, but if in that market area, the impact on the sector is not enough to ensure that from 80% -90% of our students will get a job in the sector, not just a job, before the first 12 months, then it is an area that will be of interest to other universities, but it is not an objective of the European University because the university is nothing but the training of an individual to impact on society."

"An example, in the area of ​​communication is music creation. In the area of ​​music, if you listen to the sector, they will tell you that there are many musical performers, trained in universities and untrained. There may be people who began playing an instrument when being 5; today he/she is 45, he/she plays it like anyone else, but maybe he/she does not have a university education. There are also people who got trained at the conservatory also at a very young age, and they are virtuous, with a deep knowledge of the profession. But the market, what it is telling us is that they do not need interpreters. What they need are more composers, music creators, because animation and game have impacted a lot and have become a very important market niche. So what we did was serving the market. They said, "We need music creators," and there we have them."

"With gamification there are experiences of various kinds. For example, in communication, we include it in the master of digital journalism, and there are professors of new trends, technologies teachers that I know are using gamification in their classes."

"Innovation is also a seal, it is a 'warning' that never goes out, you always have to be innovating. Our faculties are putting the ear on the market and we innovate. We are now working on projects that will be launched in September 2016."

Universia 

Insight from Universia:

"We have a platform with Telefónica that is MiriadaX with more than two million users. It is a MOOCs platform, where we collaborate with various universities. It is a leading platform in Latin America. It is better known and more widespread there. Our goal is to consolidate our position and to cover a little more market share."

"For the business world, we have an initiative called Employment Club. We give job orientation to university students facing a possible incorporation into the company. We work in conjunction with business."

U-Tad

Insight from U-tad:

Education Week 2016: GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

Education Week 2016: Graduate And Postgraduate Education

"We are a university where we are much focused on new technologies and digital art. We have emerged as university or community college for the need of a business group. They are very important companies. One is a 3D animation company, an animation studio called Ilion. It is the most important Spanish company in Europe and in Spain, who was the producer for example of the Mortadelo and Filemon film and Planet 51. Right now, they are developing a project for Paramount in the US".

“Then there is a video game company called Pyro: It is a well - known Spanish company that has the best selling video game in the history of Spain, called Commandos. It is a game of the 90s. There is also Antech, which is a mobile applications and software engineering enterprise."

"U-tad is initiated by the need for trained professionals in this sector. First we started teaching masters and postgraduate courses and now we are already since 2012 also teaching degrees. We have for example the degree of Engineering in content development and software engineering; we have the degree of visual engineering of digital content for a very artistic profile, but focused on the digital side; we have the degree of international business management, very focused on the part of technology companies; then we have the degree of 3D animation, film production-oriented 3D animation; and we have the degree of development of digital content, very focused on creating games or any interactive digital content, applications for tablets, for ipads... that's what we're doing."

"We have a very high degree of recruitment; now the first class of our degrees is going to be finished and students will practice in all those companies that are part of the business group. Now we have a closed contract with the top 50 companies in Spain and international agreements so that students can also perform professional practices for those who want to go out; at a master level, we have been much longer and we have a level of employability of 90-95%. We also have very specific masters. We have the only master in Spain that is totally directed to virtual reality. We give master courses in Big Data, Data Science, and all part of software engineering... We are very specialized, so all our masters and all our careers are very focused towards digital sectors and all that would be the digital economy, which is the sector with more professional outputs currently."

"Our methodology is eminently practical. Students have to go to class from Monday to Thursday and then Friday is completely dedicated to creating projects. Transversal projects are done between each of the careers. For example, in creating a video game, a student works as a software engineer and he/she will do the technical part of the game; then there is the visual designer, which is who creates the characters, with all the aesthetic and the visual part; then there's the student that develops the content as such; if the game needed 3D animation, 3D animation students would participate; then we always need an international company director, who will be the one to do the marketing plan and he/she will present the project to market."

"It is an eminently practical model; from the first year the student is with the computer, the student is working with the programs... they are encouraged so they can start their own business or enterprise project, though usually those are projects that are shown to students and they develop them. They are encouraged to be entrepreneurs and have high performance centers, where they will have that master classes, courses and workshops so they know what entrepreneurship is and what is creating their own company."

"Companies in the business group are those that give us all the technological devices, the most current, and what are actually required in the company. We are working in Spain and internationally closing agreements with Latin America for exchange students, to promote us and let us know there because it is a relatively young university. At the moment we do not impart online training, but it would be one of our future steps, as well as becoming increasingly international focusing on Latin America and Europe."