Internship

   Spring Semester 2009, I interned with the Department of Curriculum Development with BYU-Idaho. I feel that I developed skills and experience including the ability to: consult with faculty and supervisor on design and delivery methods for online courses; create and populate courses with resources; carry out faculty team development tasks; connect faculty teams to available resources; track progress of new courses being developed; assist with copyright clearances for various resources; copy editing, technical writing; research and design learning tools; and reporting progress regularly to my supervisors.

     The following quote brought a great deal of motivation and inspiration throughout the semester:

"I am convinced that we will find new ways to use information technology to reach more students and to deepen the learning experience of those we touch... This capacity to educate effectively across time and space will allow us to leverage the capacity of the university and reach many more young people."

     --President Kim B. Clark

     I agree with President Clark.  I have participated in meetings with both my supervisors and the BYU-Idaho faculty course administrators where the Learning model was the driving standard for development that would increase the effectiveness of education for students taking online courses.

     I also had the opportunity to help develop a new training and orientation program for new employees, which also provided reference content for current employees. The curriculum development managers gave me a great deal of guidance while maintaining confidence in my ability to learn the aspects of I-Learn and Blackboard. 

     I found my co-workers both helpful and edifying. There was a great deal of collaboration on each course; it was a great process to participate in. I felt I did an effective job at providing my best effort towards my individual contribution.

     My most significant concern about how the BYU-Idaho experience could be part of the online learning process. As I have discussed this each of my supervisors, I have realized that I am not alone in this desire and see how the courses I have helped work on fulfill the central aim of the Department and meet the standards of the Learning model. This led them to a custom project where I was assigned to develop a list of inspirational thoughts from church leaders and scriptures that we can use in our online courses. It was a blessing to feel guidance from the Holy Ghost as I completed this task.

     I have accepted a position with this department for fall semester and look forward to assisting and enabling faculty to improve in the innovation, design, and production of Learning Model curriculum in the On-line realm.