4.2 Developing and implementing an effective online educational  (Page 7/7)

The student prepares a 45 to 60 minute presentation with these required elements: (1) address the site mentor’s final assessment of the student’s fulfillment of internship activities; (2) an informal self-evaluation of the student on his strength and weaknesses as well as the perspective of the site mentor; and (3) demonstrate mastery of the program and national standards using artifacts chosen by the student from the 38 skill sets. The capstone experience can occur in a variety of formats chosen by the student. These include face-to-face presentation, webinar conference, podcast, or any other format approved by the university mentor.

Conclusion

As online courses and programs proliferate across our country, is it essential for educational leadership faculty to embrace the advantages of new technology versus fearing the cyberspace divide. The program developed at Abilene Christian University found greater communication between mentors and interns and a means to better supervise progress, assist student interns with immediate questions or concerns, and collect data on learning outcomes. Although technical experts were needed in the development of the model and much initial time spent by the professors, the benefits to interns were worth the effort. And we sincerely hope that the advancements made to the online internship will ultimately benefit the children they lead and serve.

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