Internship Week One

Week of May 12.

This week was a set up and planning week. Major events were finding that there was an opportunity with XXX and working with Julie.

On our first phone call we talked about the scope of the project and the internship. We talked about what the ID problem is and what the desired outcome is. The workers have a gap in performance. New workers have a difficult time applying the formulas and mathematical learning to real world work situations. There is currently an existing paper based handbook that helps with this that is not in compatible with the new flash based instruction that has been and is currently being created. What is desired is finding out what those taking the new training need in work experiences that relates to the formulas and concepts that they are learning in the math courses, and creating connections between this material and how it applies to work situations. It is desired that this new instruction will be integrated with the flash content delivery if possible.

Paperwork was submitted to be approved, it was edited and created and approved to advisors with a short series of emails.

An email invitation to come to Bismark to meet with SMEs came out on Wednesday, I called and left a message for Julie on Thursday.

Friday she called me back and we discussed the purpose of the meeting. We had a preliminary discussion on the learners and what their likely needs. The Primary learners are ND DOT new employees. The secondary learners would be town and county workers. We also talked about some of the potential logistics for the trip to Bismarck, possible lodging and drive reimbursement.

Reflection

This has been a fun experience for me so far. From both a personal and ID perspective, I have had to be proactive in finding opportunity. This has drawn on my communication skills and social networking. The ability to communicate and to work with others in a collaborative way are, I think, critical skills both professionally and as an IDer. The meeting we set up is another real life experience meeting SMEs in a practical situation where an IDer would be expected to interact as part of a team to create a solution. For me, I will be focusing on what the perception is of the problem, what is the desired performance and the current performance, and who is the learner. I think that out of the meeting I will be starting to have a better feel for the content of what is being taught, and how this content may be best presented to the learner. Of course, all of this is within a system I am learning about with its own way of seeing issues and ways of solving problems.