Resources for Educational Guidance: A Look at the Features and Uses of Digital Platforms

Over the past decades, numerous studies, research, reports and European resolutions have emphasized the importance of educational guidance for ensuring educational success and professional integration at all stages of life. Educational guidance is recognized as an integral part of study programs and educational processes. In addition to enhancing students’ ability to know themselves, their context and cultural and socioeconomic changes, this guidance provides information on various educational offers so they can be the protagonists of their personal life projects and make the best decisions for themselves. In this scenario, new resources have recently emerged: digital platforms for educational guidance. These are digital infrastructures, generally accessible online, that aim to facilitate and shape more or less personalized interactions to provide counselling and guidance services. After a brief illustration of the formal provisions and the salient characteristics of school guidance in Italy, this study will examine some of the main online platforms that offer guidance services for school choice. The aim is to highlight the uses, potential and limits of these resources in light of a reflection on the aims of school guidance.