TeleCC has been a non-profit initiative aiming to provide online career counselling. A first phase took place in 2014 by implementing the methodology to groups for: the job market, entrepreneurship and higher education. The first results were presented in academic conferences1. The second phase optimizes the method for two groups, one for the job market and another one for graduate entrepreneurship. Participants of the second phase come from Athens (40%) and from the Greek countryside (60%). Beyond the first pilot phase, founders of TeleCC have participated in various events in Greece (like Stadiodromion, Student Events, etc.) that aim to support youth populations toward career planning and entrepreneurship. They are experienced career office advisors (more than 10 years) in two Greek universities (i.e. Athens and Piraeus). First tele career counselling methods and results were derived in university of Athens and were presented in a FEDORA conference2 in 2008. Results from the first, pilot phase of TeleCC can be summarized as follows (Kakouris et al., 2014):
- The group engagement is low. Despite the initial willingness to participate there are clients who remain inactive.
- I. Poor communication between peers
- II. Predominantly dialogic educator/trainee communication
- Active participants enjoy the processes. They mostly acknowledge the option to participate from a distance and the opportunity to meet people with the same interests and concerns.
- I. They prefer asynchronous communication
- II. They score high (4.2/5) in overall satisfaction
- Critical reflection on entrepreneurial issues does occur.
- I. Assessed by (4.1/5)
- II. Documented in personal narrations
As an implementation of the present instructional framework, we presented the TeleCC.org online platform which currently runs pilot career discussion groups. The platform accommodates four-month online discussion groups in Greece administrated by educators/counsellors. Despite its newness, there is indication of active participation with participants declaring satisfied from the asynchronous communication with educators and peers able to facilitate reflective thinking on their own career plans and business venturing understanding. There is also evidence for enhanced critical reflection in entrepreneurial aspects from the participants. (Kakouris et al., 2014, pp. 273-274)
TeleCC method is very new in a local or global framework and can be compared to other online instructional methods (Kakouris and Loizidou - Hatzitheodoulou, 2015)3. It can be seen as a catalytic innovation in the field of informal training/career counseling that accommodates needs of distant or "alienated" youth populations. Its implementation in Greece also facilitates the need for effective communication, information and guidance of young people in the period of a financial crisis that Greece undergoes. It also follows the modern trend of adolescents and students/alumni to communicate through social media. In the context of entrepreneurship, it also accommodates the rising trend of learners to prioritize informal learning settings instead of the traditional academic ones. The optimization of this new method and service is crucial for its provision to wider populations.
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19th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Kakouris, A., Tampouri, S., Moustakali, V., 2014, “Possibilities for peer, online learning in entrepreneurship: The case of TeleCC platform”, 9th European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, edited by B. Galbraith, Academic Conferences Limited, Reading, UK, 268 – 275.
5ο Πανελλήνιο Συνέδριο Συμβουλευτικής Ψυχολογίας, 6-9 Νοεμβρίου 2014, Πάτρα: Δυνατότητες αξιοποίησης των νέων τεχνολογιών στη συμβουλευτική σταδιοδρομίας: Η περίπτωση της ηλεκτρονικής πλατφόρμας Tele-Career-Counselling (TeleCC).
«Η Ψυχολογία στην Ελλάδα και τη Μεσόγειο», 27 - 31 Μαΐου 2015, Λευκωσία: Αναπτύσσοντας μεθοδολογία τηλεσυμβουλευτικής σταδιοδρομίας: Η προσέγγιση της πλατφόρμας TeleCC.
2Tzovaridou, D.M.C., Alexopoulou, G., Angelopoulou, D., Kakouris, A., 2008, “Towards tele-counselling career services at the University of Athens", in A. Giovazolias, E. Karademas, & A. Kalantzi-Azizi “Crossing Internal and External Borders. Practices for an Effective Psychological Counselling in the European Higher Education”, FEDORA PSYCHE 2007 Conference, Ellinika Grammata, ISBN 978-960-19-0271-5 , pp 248 – 259
3Kakouris, A., Loizidou - Hatzitheodoulou, P., 2015, “European entrepreneurship education: an instructional design approach for online training”, Journal of Applied Instructional Design, submitted