A Qualitative Case Study of Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Remote Internships and a Model for Their Implementation

The current study is developed within the framework of the European project PREVIEW whose main objective is to promote a model of remote internships to meet the challenges of the digital era and improve educational practice. This paper presents the preliminary results obtained in the semantic and content analyses of a focus group carried out at the University of Salamanca. The results emphasizes that one of the main differences between face-to-face and remote internships in the field of tourism and cultural heritage is the possibility of having face-to-face, contact with clients something that is considered essential in this sector. Tutors consider that it is more difficult to monitor students in remote internships, since they believe that communication is less fluid when students are not physically in the institutions. On the other hand, the results point out that remote internships can be an opportunity to address training aspects that do not require physical presence, to go deeper into others that have been superficially addressed during the degree, to develop certain competencies, especially digital competencies, or to extend the period of internships. The results of the study also highlight that remote internships bring the opportunity of the development of more egalitarian practices, favouring that all students can have these experiences even in international companies. Regarding the PREVIEW Plan, most of the participants consider that it is a very well-structured plan although there is a certain resistance towards the change from traditional face-to-face practices to remote internships that this model proposes.