Introduction

The challenge of preparing students to become teachers and educational leaders is a formidable one. The Faculty of Education at Memorial University of Newfoundland provides courses to meet the requirements of fourteen degree and diploma programmes at the undergraduate level in addition to graduate programmes in Counseling, Educational Leadership, Teaching and Learning and Post-Secondary Studies. It is recognized, however, that the acquisition of a theoretical base for teaching is insufficient to prepare students properly to meet the many challenges which they are likely to face in the classroom. Consequently, students enrolled in undergraduate degree programs are required to complete a fifteen credit hour practicum over one semester which affords them an opportunity to integrate theory and practice in a working situation. According to the Memorial University of Newfoundland Calendar (2000 - 2001), the internship is intended >to help students develop their individual styles of teaching, to enable students to recognize the scope and complexity of a classroom teacher=s role and responsibility, and to provide opportunities for the study of children as individuals and in groups, both in the classroom and other school settings= (p.291).

The importance of this component of their preparation is generally recognized by student interns >not only as the part of their program that has the greatest potential for contributing to their future success as teachers= but also as the >most interesting part and the part that plays the most attention to their individual needs= (Sue, cited in Singh et al., 1997, p.107). Studies conducted by Doyle et al. (1994) support this view as expressed by recent graduates of Memorial University of Newfoundland. In a study involving co-operating teachers and supervisors, Singh et al. (1996) maintain that >supervising teachers and co-operating teachers perceive the internship experience to be a significant element in the professional and personal development of all parties involved in teacher education= (p.73).

The successful completion of an education internship program at Memorial University requires the full participation and cooperation of many individuals who are involved in the field of education. School district personnel, principals, and teachers must enter into partnership with the Faculty of Education to ensure that the experiences which students are engaged in are most appropriate and beneficial for their preparation to become teachers. Although there is no single model which is followed by all those who are involved in the delivery of the internship, several components are essential to its functioning. Student interns must be placed, provided orientation, supervised and evaluated during their placement period. Each intern is assigned to a co-operating teacher for the duration of the internship. Due to the close proximity of Memorial University and the Avalon East School District, interns assigned to that board are supervised by either an academic staff member of the Faculty of Education or a person appointed by the faculty for intern supervision. In school districts outside this area, supervisors and co-operating teachers are identified by school district personnel. In many districts, the principal assumes the role of supervisor.

The Faculty of Education maintains a connection with interns in the more rural districts by appointing members of its faculty who serve as District Liaison Officers. According to The Internship Handbook 2000-2001(All Districts Excepting Avalon East), District Liaison Officers have responsibilities for:

• meeting with co-operating teachers, interns, supervisors and principals in individual school districts within the first three weeks of a semester;
• facilitating at a further point in the semester a reflective session for interns in each district to focus on topics of general concern such as teacher welfare matters, reflective journal writing, evaluation, etc.;
• maintaining communication links with intern supervisors in the school districts to ensure procedural standardization;
• serving as a troubleshooter; and
• liaison with the co-coordinator, undergraduate programs. (p. 5)

Singh et al. (1997), in researching the fear that teacher interns have about classroom management, maintain that interns >struggle, individually and collectively, with dominant discourses in many areas such as classroom management, instruction, resources, discipline, the ability level of students, the purpose of the internship program, the culture of school life and many other such matters= (p.105). This is supported by the present author=s experience in the role of supervisor in one school with four interns and as a district liaison officer in five of the ten school districts in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Student interns frequently reported a great deal of satisfaction with the internship practice but expressed concerns about their ability to >manage= their classes, in particular as it relates to discipline. They often expressed the view that their courses on campus did not prepare them adequately for the challenges faced in managing classes at the school level. Several described their experiences with students with special needs and the challenges faced in attempting to provide suitable learning experiences for them. The time required to prepare for instruction was always an issue raised during reflective sessions held. This time requirement was extended in rural areas where interns maintained that resources were unavailable to facilitate preparation of lesson and unit plans. A number of interns indicated a sense of isolation in small communities with schools with small staffs, where opportunities to discuss issues of concern with fellow interns did not exist or were difficult to maintain. The need for a >built in= communication structure with the Faculty of Education was also expressed by several students.

The findings of the author indicate that there exists a high degree of satisfaction with the process and structure of the internship program. However, students generally believe that approaches can be implemented which will reduce the time and effort required and maintain a more effective communication mechanism between faculty and students when doing their internship.

During the week of March 18, 2001, each Faculty of Education in Canada was sent an E- mail and asked to describe the nature of the system being used at their institution to monitor and maintain contact with students during their internship. Attempts were made specifically to determine if any electronic mediums were being used and, if not, if any were being considered. Finally, views were solicited with respect to the potential benefits and barriers to the use of an electronic medium within the internship program.

At the time of writing, the response rate was low. However, in responses received, it was clear that the models used to monitor student internships and to communicate with students during this period were not significantly different from that used within the Faculty of Education, Memorial University. Supervisors were generally faculty, retired or part-time teachers who visited interns at their schools and communicated via E- mail, telephone or fax. machines. All see the benefits of using electronic mediums but several described the barriers as issues of confidentially, access, interest, and the impersonal nature of these forms of communication.

A review of the literature indicates that many attempts have been made during the past decade to integrate various forms of technology within both practicum and internship stages of training. This is in response to the obvious limitations of phone calls or voice messages and limited supervision meetings. The use of an electronic network is one such technological advance to link interns and teachers generally in a communicative and collaborative way. Bull, et al. (1989) maintain that electronic communities have the potential to break down these teacher isolation barriers and to provide a support network for teachers in the classroom.

Casey (as cited in Casey et al.,1994 ) described such a network known as TeacherNet which began as early as 1989 at California State University, Long Beach. This network was intended to link, through electronic conferencing and E-Mail, 15 student teachers, 7 classroom teachers, and 11 university based resource people(direct supervisors plus experts in related fields). Members of TeacherNet signed in with their password through their computer and modem to a local phone number. They then checked the Ateacher=s lounge@ for public notices that were of interest and entered reactions or new postings for others to read. They then chose to send or review private communication exchanged with one or several other network participants. Any written communication could be saved on the members= own computer for future reference. Student teachers were given free loan by the university of hardware and software for the year, in exchange for a commitment to log on daily to the TeacherNet. A 1990 evaluation of the project indicated participants experienced:

A thorough review of the literature would, no doubt, reveal other examples of electronic networks which have operated in various institutions throughout North America over the past decade.

IBM Global Education has developed an electronic network called >Learning Village= designed to facilitate communication and collaboration between schools, parents, and the community via the Internet. Learning Village can also be used to facilitate communication and collaboration among students and teachers within a school or district via the Internet or a school=s intranet.

Learning Village provides the tools to allow the following activities to occur:

• teachers and families can access a variety of communication applications;
• parents can view homework assignments, their child=s completed work, and teacher evaluations of their child=s progress during and after school hours;
• on line, private conversations can be held between teachers and parents, teachers and teachers, and students and teachers;
• family and community members can access a wide range of school news, from lunch menus to event calendars;
• approved mentors and tutors can participate in on-line discussions with students and teachers;
• students can work collaboratively on-line with other teachers and students across the room or across the world;
• projects can be accessed from home providing an extended school day with more opportunity for parental guidance and involvement;
• teachers can create their own unique web page in ten minutes with no HTML experience required.

Learning Village is being tested in various locations throughout the United States. The State of West Virginia is one of ten states receiving substantial funding for a project called Reinventing Education in an attempt to enable educators to share innovative lesson plans, the latest teaching strategies, creative student project ideas and other valuable information with teachers throughout the state and around the world.

Within the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Avalon West School District has been piloting Learning Village in six of its schools. This district covers the geographical area of the western part of the Avalon Peninsula with a student population of slightly over 11,400 in a largely rural setting. This diverse rural geography has contributed to a sense of isolation. Personnel within the district have decided to utilize technology and in particular, Learning Village, to reduce this isolation and to improve communication and collaboration among its students, teachers, parents and members of the community. Currently, teachers are developing web pages, developing lesson plans/unit plans and engaging in discussions with other teachers within the district related to important issues affecting their attempts to provide the most effective learning environments for their students.

As described earlier, The Faculty of Education, Memorial University of Newfoundland, offers a wide variety of degrees and diplomas in which students are required to complete a period of internship. In a province of over 300 K-12 schools, over 90,000 students and a geography that spans 371,636 square kilometers, students doing internships could be located in small remote areas at considerable distances from larger centers, separated from other interns, from school district offices and from The Faculty of Education.

Currently, The Faculty of Education is developing an electronic network which builds on the structure of Learning Village intended to improve communication and collaboration among its student interns. The project is unique, in that the focus is on the internship program and access is currently restricted to faculty, staff and students involved. It is believed that the internship program would be facilitated by the implementation of a number of applications found within the Learning Village structure. These include:

• an Events Calendar which could contain information related to the schedule and important professional and social events during the internship. A hotlinks could be made to the main university calendar.
• a system of Private Conferences which links interns with members of The Faculty of Education and with one another. Issues of a professional nature or discussions as a need for socio-emotional support could take place. Student interns from any locations could engage in private discussions about issues which concern them. Forums could be established for faculty members in which issues pertinent to the internship could be addressed.
• an Online Repository where interns could store their electronic portfolios and curriculum vitae for access by potential employers.
• an application known within Learning Village as The Instructional Planner. This application allows students to develop instructional tools and place these on the system for future access. Lesson and Unit Plans incorporating activities, resources and assessment rubrics could be electronically linked to provincial, Atlantic or national outcomes. Many of these supports could be developed by students while doing methodology courses on campus, vetted by faculty to ensure a standard, and placed on the system. Students could then access these tools while preparing for their classes when doing their internship.

Other base applications could be incorporated to ensure an efficient operation of the system.

During the fall of 2000, a pilot was conducted involving the Faculty of Education and four students doing their internship with Learning Village pilot schools in the Avalon West School District. Essentially, the extent of the pilot involved the calendar and private conferencing applications. Each intern was linked with a member of the faculty of education. Student involvement in these applications was quite limited. However, discussions between one faculty member and a student intern did occur frequently with the faculty member offering pedagogical advice and socio-emotional support to the intern. The reason given by the other interns participating in the pilot for not utilizing the private conferencing system extensively was a one of time limitations. In a study conducted by Schlagal et al. (1996), teachers cited lack of time, in an overly full day, as the major reason for their lack of participation in an electronic system intended to provide teachers opportunities to communicate with one another. One student who participated frequently during the pilot conducted by the faculty described to the author that extra effort and considerable time had to be expended in order to carry on discussions with the faculty member.

A decision was made near the end of the fall semester to continue the pilot with another group of interns during the winter semester. Some consideration was given to extending the pilot beyond the Avalon West School District. However, after some discussion, it was agreed to restrict it to the eight students who would do their internship in schools within that board. An orientation session took place with these students, usernames and passwords were assigned and each was linked with a member of the Faculty of Education. Again, the interaction with faculty members was very infrequent. Interactions which took place were very superficial. At a meeting with these interns, explanations were sought related to this lack of participation. Students expressed the view that the current internship model has sufficient supports to allow them to carry out their responsibilities during this period. Cooperating teachers, supervisors, who were often the principals, and other members of staff are on site to give advice and support to the interns. Students also stated that faculty members are not prepared to give the best advice on matters that affect the day-to-day operation of the classrooms during their internship.

During Winter 2001, eight students opted to do their internship in Harlow, England. This was convenient in that Memorial University has a small campus in this community which provides accommodations for students while they gain field experience in the United Kingdom. These students were given appropriate orientation, usernames and passwords and linked to their faculty supervisor. Technical problems at the Harlow Campus prevented the use of the system to any extent during the internship period. Substantial funding will have to be put into technical support in order to make the system functional.

The internship program introduced by The Faculty of Education more than a decade ago has many features which enable students to acquire the experiences needed in their development as primary, elementary, intermediate and secondary teachers. Students are accepted and play an important role in an environment where they are exposed to the wide variety of activities which are associated with the >normal= operation of a school They are given the opportunity to facilitate learning to at least 50% of their co-operating teacher=s program. Co-operating teachers and supervisors are generally selected on the basis of their interest and expertise. Monitoring and communication with the Faculty of Education is done either by direct supervision or through a district liaison role.

The experience of piloting private conferences between faculty and students and among students within an electronic network in a single school district and in Harlow, England, has had very limited success. Students did not feel the need for this form of communication in a relatively small geographical area and where the support structure for the daily conduct of classes existed. It should be noted that any contact with faculty or with other interns was optional. In an investigation conducted by Thomas et al.(1996), in an attempt to understand how university-based instructors and novice teachers can integrate electronic mail and other uses of telecommunication into teacher education, it was found that communication will not occur just because free accounts and easy access exist. Rather, as revealed by the literature examined and the pilot reported here, students may use a conferencing arrangement if there is a perceived need or if there is a requirement as part of internship program. The question as to whether a greater need would exist by interns in remote or isolated parts of the province is yet to be addressed.

As indicated above, certain members of the faculty are examining the possibility of having lesson and unit plans, resource lists, assessment rubrics, and activities, developed by students during their methodology courses, placed within the Instructional Planner application of Teachers= Village. It might be argued that such >products= exist in abundance on the Internet. Many of these have not undergone appropriate scrutiny. If this application is pursued, it will be unique in that these instructional and assessment aids will be developed by students, vetted by faculty, linked to Atlantic Canada Educational Foundation outcomes and accessible to students doing their internship. Initial reaction from student interns to this concept has been positive.

The Teachers= Village Electronic Network under development has the potential to maintain a number of other applications. The success of these is dependent on the expressed needs and the time and willingness to participate by all those involved in the internship program.

Bodzin, A. & Park, J. (1999). A Study of Preservice Science Teachers= Interactions with a Web - Based Forum. (On Line). Available: http:// unr.edu/homepage/jcannon/bod/bodzin.html

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