- Educational Technology, Research and Assessment
- Resources
- Field Experience
- Instructional Technology Generalist (K12 & Business)
Instructional Technology Generalist Field Experiences
Credits
A 3 credit (100 hours) practicum/field experience is required as part of the M.S.Ed. in Instructional Technology degree program. Any student that has a project of sufficient size that would warrant a 6 credit (200 hours) experience may register for 6 credits rather than the minimum.
Location
Internship hours can be collected in any setting that provides you the opportunity to meet your internship goals/objectives. Some settings may require you to complete a criminal background check and TB test.
Hours
You can begin working on your hours as soon as you have a set of goals approved by the ETRA field experience coordinator and secured an appropriate location and field supervisor as documented by a completed Field Supervisor Agreement form. You may need more than one academic semester to complete the necessary number of hours and that is not a problem at all but we do not have you register for the course until the semester in which you will complete the total number of required hours.
For each location you complete hours at you need to have a field supervisor who is willing to supervise the experience and write an evaluation report. Field supervisors must be identified before you begin collecting hours at a location and each field supervisor must be documented using a Field Supervisor Agreement form, which can be found in the forms and documents section. View or download the field supervisor qualifications and Responsibilities for more details.
Once a fieldwork placement has been secured, a student should work with a fieldwork supervisor to create a list of internship goals/objectives that will be accomplished during fieldwork placement. Both a student and a fieldwork supervisor need to mutually agree upon internship goals/objectives. Internship goals/objectives need to be described well, with as much detail as possible and should be aligned with AECT standards. You should include a variety of goals/objectives to meet each technology standard. ETRA field experience coordinator must approve internship goals/objectives before a student can start collecting any internship hours.
Documenting Your Experience
During fieldwork experience, each intern will keep a log documenting all fieldwork activities and hours by date. A spreadsheet or a table is a good way to do it. At the end of the semester in which a student is registered for the field experience course, students must submit a log as part of their field experience portfolio.
Internship Evaluation
Internship evaluation procedures include the following: field supervisor’s evaluation, meeting with the university field experience coordinator and field experience portfolio. In addition, students pursuing Library Information Specialist Certificate will submit the content collaboration assignment. Field experience portfolio should be visible in Blackboard within 24 hours of your enrollment in the internship course. If this is not the case, contact the ETRA field experience coordinator Olha Ketsman at 815-753-9687 or oketsman@niu.edu. The field experience portfolio includes several sections. Follow the instructions included in each section to complete your field experience portfolio.
At least once during your internship the ETRA field experience coordinator will visit with you at one of your field experience locations to evaluate first hand your performance. You must work with the ETRA field experience coordinator to schedule the field site visit.
