- jelilatadesiyan
- Jul 30, 2019
- 4 min read
As my internship comes to a close, I have had to consider if I have met my internship goals.I’ve learned so much about myself. I can confirm that I’m technologically adaptable as I’ve learned to use new tools on the go. I’ve also learned patience from recording the same shots over and over again. Most importantly, I’ve learned time and self-management.
In considering some of the internship outcomes I started with, I have come to the conclusion that I have met my goals, maybe even exceeded them.
Internship Learning Outcomes
They are as follows:
Work collaboratively with real client on a communication project
Plan and manage writing projects
Analyze the communication situation: purpose, audience, context, constraints
Gather, select, arrange, and interpret data
Use both primary and secondary research techniques
Document sources according to the conventions of the pertinent
Design graphics and format effectively
Revise drafts using strategies of organization, style, and format to achieve appropriate goals
Recognize communication in its social, political, and organizational/ethical contexts
Work collaboratively with real client on a communication project; Plan and manage writing projects.
As you might know, this semester I worked with a real client, The TLPDC office and Dr. Cattell, to create a series of deliverables. I managed and planned the project based on what I could potentially delivered. Before commencing on the website, I created a site map and a mockup, and before creating the videos, I made scripts for all of them.
Analyze the communication situation: purpose, audience, context, constraints;Gather, select, arrange, and interpret data; Use both primary and secondary research techniques.
In choosing these deliverables, I analyzed the rhetorical situation at hand. I was able to gather information from Dr. Tapp & Dr. Cattell about what the purpose of the project was. I was also aware that the deliverables would have different audiences; students and faculty. Some of the constraints I thought about as I put together the possible deliverables was the current Blackboard support site. It already had videos, was established as TTU’s Blackboard (BB) support site and would have more resources than I could possibly put together in 2 months. I considered several other additional videos based on what BB already had.
For example, they had a “How to add a hyperlink to your portfolio”. I had to consider what I could create that would be the most useful to the student, faculty and department heads. Some of the videos will be dispersed across both the students and faculty e.g. the choosing a template video, because I understand that this is a video that will be useful to both parties.
Ultimately, I used my experience as an instructional designer, my observations of the failing of the previous design of the website, my research into the blackboard support site, my experience as a student and graduate instructor to understand what the possible kinds of videos to create. Upon conferring with the project manager, my vision matched his, and will hopefully match the students’ vison. I say hopefully as we have not been able to find a student besides myself to test the videos.
Document sources according to the conventions of the pertinent discipline.
I documented articles that I added to the website in APA style because they were for the faculty audience who might need to cite without having to look too far. I also hyperlinked the articles added so faculty members could access the source.
Design graphics and format effectively.
As stated in our previous communication, I used ActivePresenter to create the videos because it is a free and resource fool screencast tool. This tool has been really useful because it has zoom features, mouse highlight features, caption and annotation features. It has therefore been useful in creating annotated screenshots that helped me prefaced what the possibilities of what was to come before discussing how to bring those possibilities to life.
Revise drafts using strategies of organization, style, and format to achieve appropriate goals.
Since our last communication, Dr. Tapp and a few of the other TLPDC employees have watched my videos. During this process, they were able to recommend diction changes as well as redundant information. I was also able to pick up instances where I didn’t preview information or annotate certain information visually.
Recognize communication in its social, political, and organizational/ethical contexts.
During this internship, I have gained some insight into departmental relationships. I have seen how departments collaborate. For example, the TLPDC has an eLearning partnership link regarding portfolios on their website. This link generated redundant information as it repeated similar information on ePortfolios. I was unable to take down this link because it created ties to that department. I also noticed a heavy emphasis on acknowledging who did what. For example, the first link on the website previously was the ePortfolio committee members list. However, I have been able to recognize the importance of these link and work with them. For example, with the first example, I made a slight change to the name to make it more accessible to student. With the second example, I simply moved its position in the link hierarchy.
I could not have created a successful project without the welcoming nature of the TLPDC office and the people who volunteered to test the videos for me. I have gotten new, better equipment as well as a more effective environment because I shared my problems/videos with the team.
Overall..
This project has been educational. I have learned so much about myself as well how to work in a departmental environment. This is certainly an experience I would like to repeat.
