Abstract:

New concepts and goals in education were created by the Bologna Declaration signed in June 1999. The commitment taken by 29 European countries caused a revolution that is changing profoundly the structures of all education system. The creation of European Space for Higher Education is a purpose committed by all signatories of the declaration and sets out an action program whose main aspects focus on the definition of common objectives which promotes quality and flexibility for higher education. This process of profound structural change calls for the reorganization of curricular, institutional and methodological principles at all higher education institutions. Different educational models such as e-learning, b-learning and m-learning seek to respond these new requests and began its incursion into university educational models. These emerging academic models outlined in the European Space require new types of relationships between educational actors leading to tutoring models that seek to reply the requests of a new educational audience. It is urgent to reflect upon who the new students are, what their needs are and how college cultures and methodologies need to change to address these needs. Under a new paradigm of student needs and expectations, different tutoring models emerges, such as mentoring, peer teaching, academic tutoring, among others, where learning takes place through a process of construction focused on students. This paper aims to discuss the main aspects to be taken into account in the design and development of an effective tutoring model and introduces a pedagogical model of virtual learning environments developed by the Instituto Superior de Leiria (ISLA) in Portugal, whose endeavours in order to achieve solutions that allow higher education to respond the intensive challenges of a globalised society, resulted in an active tutoring model that has already proven its effectiveness.

Keywords:

higher education, tutoring, educational models, bologna process.