The Role of Digital Platforms in the Integration of Higher Education Students

This paper falls within the framework of the issue regarding students' integration and support within higher education by means of digital platforms. It is a reflection on the implementation of a pilot program called Mentoring Academy in degree courses of a Portuguese public higher education institution. The main aim of the program is to support the integration of young undergraduates in higher education and help them overcome difficulties. This paper contributes to achieving the aims of finding whose help students seek when they have queries regarding the course or institution, the means they use to make such queries, their level of acquaintance with digital platforms, the digital platforms they consider most adequate to their integration in higher education, and the students' level of adaptation to both the institution and the degree course they attend. Among the results, obtained by questionnaire from a sample of 80 subjects, we highlight the following: when they have queries regarding the institution or any curricular contents, undergraduates mostly seek help from their fellow students; they mostly use face to face communication and the institution's platform to make such queries; their level of acquaintance with the institution's platform is high; the most adequate means for their integration in higher education are social networks and the institution's platform; and the undergraduates' level of adaptation to the institution is very high.