A Constructive Internship in Educational Technology at Vivekananda College of Education, Pondicherry

Internship for teachers is generally a much dreaded hectic or boring usual monotonous teaching of content from the course of the students which the regular teachers would demand from trainees. Atleast that was what I had experienced previously.

                      When this internship at Vivekananda College of Education was announced, only for a short period of 4 days (the trip covering a  major part of the internship period), I was feeling happy as well as tensed as to how to finish the activities assigned to us by our supervisor. It seemed a mammoth-task. No idea where to start and how to end. Instructions were crisp and clear and there was full academic freedom and institutional support which made the job all the more serious demanding a sense of responsibility. 

                   We were to teach the B.Ed. students of Vivekananda how to use technology in teaching focusing on blended learning and other teaching strategies. Let's go by the things I did, day by day in a sequence so that it's easy to reflect!

DAY-1:

 A member of four- myself, Bhabani, Anjugam akka and Nithya were ushered into the immaculate (pardon the pun because a part of the M.Ed. gang actually went there!!) campus of Vivekananda College of Education by the scholars Arul Anna, Gyanendra Bhai and the very serene and lovely Josephine Akka. We were introduced at first to a small group of students for whom we created Edmodo accounts to begin with, while the entire class was given to us to handle in the afternoon where the four of  us perfectly co-ordinated at team-teaching using blended learning method to teach a unit  from the B.Ed. syllabus "Childhood and Adolescence and  Growth and Development". Our teaching was greatly admired and I am not at all boasting when I say this, the students are a testimony to this. I also posted assignments on the same day to write a report on the content taught through blended learning approach and  also set an assignment  on Wikipedia creation, just orienting the students about what Wikipedia is all about in brief.  Thus the day ended.

DAY-2:

On this day we were joined by our peers and it was a relief to see them join us, though they arrived at regular intervals and seemed like a Hindi movie having so many exciting entries by heroes and heroines. We were all glad to meet them after so many days, curiously waiting to listen to their travel stories. On this day a student named Gokul really helped us by arranging the Conference Room which has an overhead projector and fast internet connection with a giant display screen! What more can you ask for a Technology based educational internship! The teaching job us made easy for the remaining friends who were yet to teach any content and for us to demonstrate how to create  a Wikipedia Page and 'Turn In' assignments on Edmodo. It was a joint effort to explain the need of wikipedia pages, editing and posting new authentic content. It was fun!

DAY-3:

On this day, we demonstrated how to create an e-portfolio and writing a blog. I did explain to a few girls who could sing well that there voices can be 'podcasted' and they recorded there voices and gave me on the next day. It just showed how enthusiastic they were in learning new technologies. Only now, the time seemed a barrier. Anyway, the day ended with another group comprising of Tarik, Jasmine, Payal and Radhika Akka demonstrating 'Multiple Intelligences' through Gagne's Nine Steps(though I got to know it later when they announced it on completion that they used the strategy). Just to take it up is appreciated and the rest is left upto our individual understanding of what we witnessed! I liked Payal's interactive session in between though her time was really short because of certain constraints. Anyway the day ended in a nice way!

DAY-4:

The final day of the internship and I had already started feeling sad during the assembly. I realized I have a certain affinity for this place and especially for the kind of teachers and students they have. They helped us at every step and some students are really  talented and just need a proper exposure I felt. I especially liked a boy who boldly criticized us on Edmodo and I had an open feedback session today  with him which cleared many doubts and we all positively and constructively discussed relevant social issues faced in India (he talked about Andaman)  where technology integration in classroom is a challenge due to lack of proper infrastructure. Post that, I  showed them my e-portfolio explaining in detail how each and every detail can be attached  and also showed them glimpses  of my blog and wikipedia page, trying to bring out the differences between these platforms and discussing their usefulness. We trainees divided and helped small groups of 7-8 B.Ed. students each with the creation of their own wikis, portfolios and blogs. The smaller group work was a great success as more people posted their stuff on Edmodo. Thereafter in the post-lunch session, Durai, Wasim, Shantapriya and Dhananjay used Prezi to teach  about 'Microteaching and Macroteaching'. Students were curious to know about Prezi it seemed. At  last we took their feedback which was mainly positive and they all liked the new technologies and  strategies adopted. The negatives were of  a personal nature like dislike for some teachers and their communication styles which may not be highlighted. 

                        The purpose of  this internship I  believe was successful because it aimed at creating awareness about how technology can be integrated into teaching and how it makes a teacher's job systematic and easier and the student's job interesting. I personally thank our teacher Dr. Sreekala E. for arranging such a constructive internship for us which helped us learn a lot through praises and criticism from students. Her guidance has been a constant support throughout. 

                       I enjoyed  the lunch  brought by the day scholars, especially Anju akka and Pugazh and thanking  them cannot be enough. During the free sessions we had discussions on society, religion, food and customs and it was all a part of informal learning. 

                I express my deep regards for Raggi Ma'am (pardon the spelling) who has been a constant support and encouragement to teach students the way we like. Such institutional heads can only usher positive changes with  their broad outlook. That is an administrative tactics I learnt. Also, handling the group in Edmodo from the very onset has made me learn a lot about the platform in detail. Now, I believe I can manage my future classrooms through Edmodo efficiently. I will remember  this internship and the knowledge, skills and relations I  built during it for the rest of my teaching career.

Life in Pondicherry University ever since I entered the School of Education as the first batch of  two-year Master of Education programme (M.Ed. 2015-2017), has been exciting and challenging at the same time.

          Earlier, as a child, I visited Pondicherry on several occasions because of places of interest such as the Aurobindo Ashram, the Auroville Matrimandir and ofcourse the French colonial relics in and around the scenic Rock Beach. However, before applying for the course after seeing a newspaper advertisement,  I was completely ignorant of the fact that Pondicherry  had a central university  which houses  one of the best Education departments in India, with a   personality like Dr. M.S. Lalithamma, as the Dean and Head of  the  School of  Education. 

         Upon  my  arrival during  admission, I remember how warmly Dr. Lalithamma greeted me  and my father  in her chamber and that humbleness shown  on  the part of the HOD, reduced all my apprehensions about the  place.

          Since then, under the guidance of the exisiting five professors  after  Prof. Lalithamma retired in January, 2016, I  have  nurtured my talents and grown as a  person. Here, we work as individuals and in groups in doing assignments, making presentations, writing reports on practical field visits and so on. We have adopted  a research-oriented approach in teaching-learning and the faculty has always encouraged us to take up challenges and adopt creative approaches to change the face of teachers' training existing in India. 

        Recently we had a field visit to Chennai where we toured several national-level educational/teachers' training institutions that enabled a thorough understanding of existing practices in the field. We were also taken to the British Council to take up the level-test  as an evaluation of our  Communication  Skills. 

       Several guest-lectures(by both Indian and foreign delegates) have been organized on different occasions to enrich our knowledge  on specific course contents.

        The engagement with field course, made us all serve as interns/ trainee teacher educators in different B.Ed. colleges in and around Pondicherry.

         Apart from  core academic activities in the university ,we enjoy a lot of co-curricular activities like quizzes and fests organized by different departments. The Silver Jubilee campus is an amazing place which houses our School of  Education. The lush green, pollution -free, peaceful environment will make one feel in love with the place.

          Weekends are the best part of life in Pondicherry University, where like most others, I too go out  to the lovely beaches(Rock, Serenity, and Paradise), the Pyramid temple, Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville and Sunday market in the town of Pondicherry where you can develop skills  like bargaining which is indeed useful in practical life!

           Of course, there are pros and cons to everything, but the cons just teach you the  art of adjustment  and  hence I left that to be explored individually. For now, let's all  enjoy  the  sunshine and sea-shores of Pondicherry and share all the positive learning experiences I gained in my alma mater, Pondicherry  University.