Internships

Over the course of this term, my commitment to HarlemLive has solidified into something beyond a three-credit internship. My work at HarlemLive has become an integral facet of my approach to the work that I am doing at Teachers College. My interactions with the students informs my readings of theory and influences the papers that I write as well as the stance that I take on many issues of pedagogy and politics.

One of the main achievements I can attribute to my internship experience is my shift in views regarding computers. After working with teachers and students for a full semester, I have gained the ability to view computers as an educational tool. As someone who has some experience working in educational environments, confined to traditional teaching techniques, I regard this shift of view as a great asset to my future career.

I am really lucky to have had an opportunity to be an observer in a computer lab at a public elementary school in New York City--PS 180. Being an observer helps me to understand how technology is taught to young children in the United States, realize how young kids feel about the technology and perceive what will be needed to strengthen on technical education.

My internship work at the Beacon School has been instructive and personally rewarding. By being an intern through the Institute for Learning Technologies and working with Elizabeth Rebull at Beacon, I have been able to observe and share first hand in the experiences of high school teachers and students as they integrate technology into their daily school lives.

I wanted a little more focus on the corporate side...so I decided that getting an internship would be a great way to balance out my coursework with practical experience in a corporate setting. I think one of the most important things I got out of this experience was learning how to work in a very different culture and environment that I am typically used to.

In this internship, I was able to gain an in-depth understanding of research methods and the application of statistical data, become more proficient in SPSS, and gained a solid understanding of the factors which determine the differences between projected outcomes and actual outcomes.