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Purpose: The digital transformation and the increased use of technologies have changed the world of work severely. With it, collaboration and cooperation methods among employees. Therefore, new ways of working together must be applied to work in an international and digital working environment. For Vocational Education and Training (VET), developing new (transversal) competencies to engage in virtual teamwork is necessary to adequately prepare young professionals for the present and future labor market. However, there is little research on the current situation in VET regarding virtual teamwork. Approach: We deployed a cross-sectional design and collected data from N = 181 commercial apprentices in Germany regarding virtual teamwork. We analyze our data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the interrelationships between input, process, and outcome variables to foster satisfaction and innovative learning in virtual teams as desired targets of VET. To assess these results regarding virtuality, the complexity of tasks, gender of the apprentices, and the size of the training firms, we derived a multigroup analysis (MGA) of our model. Findings: The results indicate that organizational factors have the most significant influence concerning the relationship between input and process factors. Surprisingly, the technical affinity of individuals has only a minor effect. Regarding the relationship between process and outcome factors, motivation and responsibility have the highest impact on innovative learning, whilst communication culture severely affects the perceived satisfaction in virtual teamwork. Conclusion: The findings lead to valuable insights on factors influencing virtual teamwork in VET and can help to design learning programs to prepare young professionals to smoothly transition to and successfully master their future working environments by using new ways of collaboration and cooperation. This is particularly relevant for VET, as prior research has focused primarily on primary and secondary education. Lastly, we identify potential scales and items that help capture some of the inherent constructs of virtual teamwork.

Digitalisierung stellt Lehrkräfte beruflicher Schulen vor vielfältige neue Herausforderungen. Zum Erhalt ihrer Professionalisierung müssen sie sich laufend fortbilden, wollen sie die Qualität des Unterrichts sicherstellen. Studien zeigen, dass die Erfolgserwartungen an Fortbildungen (FB) von Lehrkräften insbesondere im Hinblick auf das Potenzial digitaler Medien noch nicht voll ausgeschöpft sind. Dies scheint mit vielfältigen administrativen und gesetzlichen Vorgaben, mit dem Wirken unterschiedlicher Akteure sowie funktionalen Zuständigkeiten zu korrespondieren. Somit ist die Professionalisierung der Lehrkräfte nicht nur von ihren individuellen Entscheidungen, sondern auch von denen anderer Akteure und den dabei auftretenden Interaktionen abhängig. Dabei kommt es nicht selten zu Spannungen auch in der Form von ‹Double Bind›-Phänomenen, die sich nur in einem grösseren Systemkontext identifizieren, verbalisieren, interpretieren, aufbrechen und lösen lassen. In dieser Studie zeichnen wir die Struktur und Interaktionen der Akteure der FB für Lehrkräfte an beruflichen Schulen mittels der Kulturhistorischen Tätigkeitstheorie sowie aktueller Forschungsergebnisse nach, verorten darin die in einer Interviewstudie mit 46 Lehrkräften wahrgenommenen Interaktionen und analysieren diese im Hinblick auf ‹Double Bind›-Phänomene. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Lehrkräfte im Rahmen ihrer FB mit kritischen Entscheidungen i. S. v. ‹Double Binds› konfrontiert sind, sowohl auf struktureller Ebene als auch im Hinblick auf ihr Professionsverständnis wie auch auf einstellungs- und interessensbezogene Aspekte.

Purpose: The digital transformation and the increased use of technologies have changed the world of work severely. With it, collaboration and cooperation methods among employees. Therefore, new ways of working together must be applied to work in an international and digital working environment. For Vocational Education and Training (VET), developing new (transversal) competencies to engage in virtual teamwork is necessary to adequately prepare young professionals for the present and future labor market. However, there is little research on the current situation in VET regarding virtual teamwork. Approach: We deployed a cross-sectional design and collected data from N = 181 commercial apprentices in Germany regarding virtual teamwork. We analyze our data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the interrelationships between input, process, and outcome variables to foster satisfaction and innovative learning in virtual teams as desired targets of VET. To assess these results regarding virtuality, the complexity of tasks, gender of the apprentices, and the size of the training firms, we derived a multigroup analysis (MGA) of our model. Findings: The results indicate that organizational factors have the most significant influence concerning the relationship between input and process factors. Surprisingly, the technical affinity of individuals has only a minor effect. Regarding the relationship between process and outcome factors, motivation and responsibility have the highest impact on innovative learning, whilst communication culture severely affects the perceived satisfaction in virtual teamwork. Conclusion: The findings lead to valuable insights on factors influencing virtual teamwork in VET and can help to design learning programs to prepare young professionals to smoothly transition to and successfully master their future working environments by using new ways of collaboration and cooperation. This is particularly relevant for VET, as prior research has focused primarily on primary and secondary education. Lastly, we identify potential scales and items that help capture some of the inherent constructs of virtual teamwork.