ONLINE TRAINING FOR INVESTMENT IN SECURITIES. AN EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF SMES AND PROFESSIONALS FINANCIAL CULTURE

摘要

The financial market have undergone substantial changes because of most recent improvements in technology, deregulation of financial services, regulatory changes, and the globalization of the marketplace. Internet, along with high-speed computer systems, has dramatically altered the way in which securities and commodities are bought and sold, almost completely automating the transactions process [1]. On the other hand, the existing training courses brokers and dealers due to their high costs allow only to a limited number of professionals to obtain the necessary specific knowledge about financial markets and get practical skills such as 1) perform the buying and selling of securities and commodities, 2) take orders from clients and try to get the best price for them, 3) constantly keep an eye on market activity, and 4) stay in touch with other traders and brokers to know what prices are being offered. The European project entitled "Online Training for Investment in Securities" (OTIS) is a two year project with a financial support from the European Commission under the "Leonardo da Vinci" Community Vocational Training Programme. It is pointed to Vocational and Educational Training (VET) and aimed to develop and evaluate an accredited online trans-European platform to improve and harmonize skills and competencies in the field of financial markets and investment in securities. This paper presents project's preliminary outcomes and findings including: 1) contents for online learning and training based on a progressive "real world"-based learning concept, 2) self-assessment and testing tool, and 3) online business game for multiple users (a simulator) that uses an innovative learning-by-doing method.