Summary

The division Further Education at Freie Universität trains IT specialists in a training network on an annual basis. The trainees undergo the theoretical and practical training course mainly at the Freie Universität. Annually approx. 10 - 15 trainees as IT specialists are enrolled in the program. The blog replaces the traditional (paper) reporting for the 8-week job internship and can, if necessary replace the "report portfolio" of the trainees. The trainees report in their blog about the experiences made and their undertakings during their stay in Ireland. The focal point of the reports is of course the job experiences made but at the same time the impressions of everyday life during the stay should also be portrayed. In the form of a digital "report portfolio" the trainers receive impressive about the progress of their internship abroad. The trainees connect with each other via the blog, exchange experiences made and learn from one another. The trainees write their reports in English and thereby also further develop their language skills especially with regard to the IT vocabulary. In addition, the English reporting also makes it a lot easier to communicate and exchange ideas with the trainers and colleagues on site.

Course

Course title	Internship for training IT specialists, afib
Course type	Internship
Field	Trainees
Lecturer	Stefan Bavar
No. of participants	15
Duration	8 weeks

Tools

Blog

Realization

For the trainees a FU blog was set up as an online diary. After a short introduction for the trainees to the technical possibilities of the blog, special categories were defined for the blog that defined the thematic focus of the internship diary. The trainees are asked to only use the categories that are provided and, if necessary, setting up additional topics by using supplementary keywords. The blog is managed as a group blog and thereby is allows for joint work on a certain project. Via the comments feature the trainees give their view on the reports and the experiences made by the other participants and, if necessary, supplement these with notes and tips.

E-Learning at Freie Universität Berlin: Use Scenarios and Tools > Internship reports as blogs > afibblog.jpg

Illustration 1: Afib trainees report on their internship abroad

Experiences made by the lecturer

The trainees were skeptical at the start about using the new tool. Especially as - for this special case - the reports were supposed to be in English. During the internship, though, the blog proved to be a fitting tool for accompanying the internship. Especially the possibility of uploading photos and short (mobile phone) videos was taken up well.

In addition, later trainees also value the experiences made and reports posted by the previous years groups that make their stay abroad easier.

Further information

Training blog trainees that will becomes IT specialists at the Freie Universität:
Training blog: http://blogs.fu-berlin.de/blogschulung

Support offered by CeDiS

Consulting services for the implementation of digital solutions in teaching: The Center for Digital Systems (CeDiS) has extensive experience of many years when it comes to the implementation of digital media and systems within the fields of teaching, learning and research. We offer a wide variety of consulting services on the implementation of these tools and systems within the entire academic scope and especially at Freie Universität Berlin.
Training courses and workshops: For lecturers at Freie Universität Berlin (professors, employees, tutors) as well as lecturers of other universities CeDiS offers training courses and workshops on the topic of teaching and learning with digital media. These course enable participants to implement online elements within their own sphere of teaching.
The Executive Board of the Freie Universität supports e-learning initiatives: With the e-learning funding program financial resources are provided to lecturers that enrich and improve their courses quality-wise by implementing technological and media-related support. All of the academic staff teaching, the lecturers or even the institutions of the Freie Universität - without the Charité-Universitätsmedizin - can be supported within this program.