Virtual Internships Give Students Real-World Experience
Pitsco’s new Web-based CareerPorts take students on nine-week virtual internships in nationally recognized career cluster areas, helping them hone their real-world career experiences and independent learning skills. Designed for students in grades 10-14, each CareerPort (www.careerports.com) can be used in several ways, including as supplemental curriculum, as a required course, as part of a career academy, as an applied learning course, or as a dual-credit course.
The program allows students to complete their virtual internships by finishing assignments and participating in hands-on activities that can be implemented from anywhere with Internet access. Students participate in these courses while staying in touch with facilitators, who assist and monitor their progress and performance, and subject mentors, who are experts in the specific field of study. And even though all of the students’ learning is self-directed, they still have access to online resources such as audio, video and PDF files, while remaining in close contact with their subject and teacher mentors.
CareerPorts cover the core content areas such as math (engineering and finance), science (physical science and health), language arts, and technology. A nine-week internship is equal to a quarter’s worth of work. Thus, four internships could spread the program over a full school year, giving students a broad understanding in different fields of study as they consider their career choices.
This article originally appeared in the 04/01/2005 issue of THE Journal.