Internship

= Internship Web Conferences Attended  = blank

General Reflection
Web conferences are the social and informational class gatherings for online students. It is in this setting that we can interact with each other and with the professor. The discussions are usually lively and full of banter, questions, answers, advice, counsel, and encouragement. It is a great place to get to know each other and to network for future collaboration opportunities. blank

May 19, 2011
This conference was conducted prior to the start of the course on May 23. We discussed the Summary Evaluation Report, e-portfolios, TK20, field-based hours, scholarly writing, upgrading previous assignments, and reflections. blank

May 24, 2011
Discussion included course access, field-based activities, comprehensive exam formatting and content, and mentors' signatures blank

May 28, 2011
In this Saturday morning conference we discussed the relationship between our papers and the ISTE standards; everything needs to relate to and support our accomplishments within these standards. Other topics were attendance at the web conferences, APA style manual, and the first week's part of the comprehensive exam assignment. blank

May 31, 2011
This conference was originally scheduled for the 30th but since it was Memorial Day it was changed to the 31st. Discussion items included time frame and feedback for graded assignments from Week 1, how to group the field-based activities together for reflections, how to continue the final exam in Week 2, and details about submitting assignments. blank

June 1, 2011
The topics for this web conference were similar to those on May 31; the importance of this conference was that it was the last one before Dr. Abernathy took a ten-day break from conferences. We discussed the graded Week 1 assignments and the feedback from them, the use of the Horizon Report 2011 in our comprehensive exam, and clarification of the Week 2 assignment. blank

June 11, 2011
Dr. Abernathy held a web conference at 10 am on Saturday morning; I was not able to attend but watched and listened to the video recording instead. Questions for discussion included not referencing the number of a reflection question but rather writing a reflection that flows from one topic into another. Other items discussed included the ISTE standards, field-based hours, font and size used in the comprehensive exam, and where the curriculum vitae should be inserted. Once again the question came up about writing 250 words on each of the thirty-three ISTE performance indicators (Field-Based Activities Reflections). Dr. Abernathy reiterated that the text of the standards and indicators can and should be included in the word count and that similar activities should be grouped together for reflection. Students also discussed the mechanics of posting to a wiki or website; whether the separate items of the comprehensive exam should be posted independently or as a whole. Grading and feedback from assignments were also covered in the discussion. blank

June 17 and 18, 2011
These conferences were held on Saturday morning and Sunday evening. The groups were small but full of banter as well as questions. We are far enough along that we can see the end of the class and of the program and spirits were generally high, albeit somewhat burdened with remaining assignments to finish. Topics of discussion ranged from APA formatting, to the Field-Based Activities Reflections, to the new online Ph.D. program that may be approved next week to begin in August. Since we are part of Cohort 10, our hour requirement for Field-Based Activities is 50 rather than 100, and our reflections may include only the 50 hours if we so choose, according to Dr. Abernathy. That brought a sigh of relief from several of us who have not yet completed those reflections.