Last year we employed 19 Student Interns to support the transition from Blackboard Original to Ultra with some great results.
One area where this worked particularly well was The Language Centre.
Lucy McNally (Foreign Language Programme Coordinator and Language Tutor) did an excellent job of hosting one of our Interns Michelle Hopwood. Lucy completed a detail project plan prior to the programme commencing so that Michelle new exactly what was expected of her. She scheduled time during the induction week to meet with Michelle and then went on to meet with her weekly to provide support & feedback. Following the project we asked Lucy a few short questions:
What did the department enjoy most about having a Digital Intern?
It was really good to receive student consultation about what works well on Blackboard and what doesn’t.
How did the department make the Digital Intern feel welcome and supported during their Internship?
Introductory meeting, weekly meetings, taking time to get to know the intern and making them feel comfortable – asking about the studies etc, being flexible with timings/tasks etc, treating them like a colleague as opposed to an intern/student.
How would you describe your experience of having a Digital Intern?
Extremely useful. Not only is the feedback/consultation from students invaluable, from a practical point of view, but it is also extremely useful and efficient to receive help with developing the different spaces on Bb. You can see how much the interns learn and how good it is for them which also makes the process very rewarding for both the department and the student.
We also asked Michelle about the impacts of the Internship:
“The internship has been invaluable. Not only have I gained a role working at Edge Hill as a student advisor due to the skills developed on the internship, but I have secured two work placements and improved my project management skills – a key area I wanted to work on in year two. The best part was getting to know the staff and the other interns. It has been lovely getting to know other students and making networking connections that I would never have met without the internship”
We are hoping to run the Internship again this year in June/July as we move all remaining modules to Ultra. If you would like support from an Intern in your department to help with this, please get in touch with [email protected].
