4.2 Developing and implementing an effective online educational  (Page 5/7)

Capstone area

Career folder

Given this brief introduction to the ACU Student-Centered Model it is now appropriate to focus on the internship element of the model.

Many leadership programs have a one-semester internship at the end of the preparation program. These internships have proven to be neither instructionally effective nor cost-effective (Sid W. Richardson Foundation [SWRF], 1997). The ACU internship is integrated throughout the program. The internship consists of five components: an internship orientation, an action research project, national standards based activities, an e-portfolio, and a capstone experience.

Action research

Students examine action research in the program’s second course. Students collaborate with their university and site mentors to develop a plan for a significant school research project. The research project plan is developed to insure the project is implemented in an orderly and timely manner. Progress checkpoints are embedded throughout the program. Students have approximately one and one-half years to conduct their research project.

Internship orientation

During the break between the program’s second and third course, students attend a mandatory internship orientation webinar detailing the online internship. Students actively participate in the webinar’s presentation and discussion. Students have the opportunity to submit questions and make comments during the webinar, either orally or via text messaging using a chat box.

Internship activities&Management system

The School Leadership Internship 2nd Edition by Martin, Wright, Danzig, Flanary and Brown (2005) is the internship text. This book offers 38 skill sets based upon national standards. Each of the national standards-based 38 skill sets offers the intern a menu of one to nine activities. While this book is an excellent internship text, further action was required to match instruction with technology to function optimally in the online environment (Strehle, Whatley, Kurz,&Hausfather, 2001).

ACU contracted with a firm to develop intern-friendly software to manage the 38 skill sets and their multiple activity options as well as other components of the online internship text. Internship Matrix software was developed to make managing of the internship easier for the mentors and the students. This matrix is key to a smooth implementation of the online internship. Color was incorporated in the grid’s deign to enhance its user-friendly requirement. Each of the 38 leadership skill area activities cells begin with no fill. Figure 3 depicts The Internship Matrix as a student initially sees it. It should be noted that this figure is not the final product but is a representation of the matrix’s concept.