E-Learning Internship

I did my UWStout E-Learning internship in the summer of 2008 with Susan Manning in her course, Instructional Design for E-Learning. I felt very comfortable working with this class and felt that it prepared me well for online facilitating.  I feel that students should be treated as valued customers; for me, the value is what I learn from them.

Having the opportunity to facilitate a second group discussion each week worked well and provided me with a “real time” experience. Using Susan’s discussion rubric helped me focus on content. Participants in the course were very active discussion participants and I used the Grade Book User Statistics or Find command to check their participation when necessary.

I learned that checking links is essential but that sometimes things change anyway! Our weekly Skype conference was an excellent way for me to feel really connected to Susan. It gave me an opportunity to discuss course (and student) issues and to really feel a part of the administrative responsibilities of teaching online.

I did not do a weekly summary announcement but did do a couple of general ones. I enjoyed the “Ask Mary Ann” discussion that we added to Susan’s Space. Those who will be doing the practicum asked good questions and I was able to get information from Dennis O'Connor when I wasn’t sure how something would be handled. I received personal email from some participants at the end of the course letting me know they would keep in touch while they did the Practicum/Internship.

Susan also provided an opportunity for me to evaluate module reflections using the dropbox. I found the D2L CMS easy to use for all these tasks. Again, the use of a rubric was beneficial in assessing and commenting on student work

Samples of my work in this course. 

• Mary Ann's Corner (Internship Introduction)

• Final Reflections on the internship experience

• Internship Evaluation guidos_practicum.doc