Jun 11 2008
Staying relevant in the classroom
This summer, I am doing a faculty internship. Normally, we think of students doing internships to prepare for their future careers, but I thought that an internship for myself would be a good way of keeping in touch with what is going on in industry.
One of the classes I teach is an introduction to networking technologies. We discuss theoretical aspects of computer data networks, and we also spend a great deal of time doing hands-on work in the lab. Before I started teaching eight years ago I was the director of information systems at a small community college. I had many practical experiences from which to draw on as examples in the classroom. Since I started teaching, my learning about new IT technologies has slowed considerably. I am excited to be back in an actual IT department doing IT things at a small telecommunications company in my area.
This week, I wrote a Java program that does housekeeping on the e-mail accounts. There are a limited number of accounts available for use, so every so often the system administrator would go through and delete accounts that have not been accessed for a period of time. My program automates this action, by scanning through the accounts, examining the login dates, and deleting any accounts that have been unused for a long while.
It was really a great project for me, because I taught a Java 1 class last fall (not a regular course I teach.) It allowed me to see that what we teach is truly useful in industry. It allowed me to experience the same frustration students experience while I was trying to understand a new system. But it was rewarding when everything came together and started working.
So, how did I arrange this unique summer experience? I asked! Asking was not really a comfortable thing to do, but there was no program in place, no advertisements about it; it’s completely new for them too! It wasn’t going to happen without my asking.
If there’s a place of business that is related to what you teach, why not go there and ask if you can work for them over the summer? I’m glad I did. When I go back in the classroom this fall, I’ll be a better teacher and hopefully the phone company I worked for will benefit from my efforts over the summer as well.
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I believe every teacher needs to experience what the students are experiencing. Keeping up to date with what technology is better to be used and is being used at the time is a great way to continue successful teaching. In addition you got to learn how to use a new program that was beneficial for you and your students. Keeping up with the latest uses of technology is especially critical when teaching an IT class. This idea of getting a job over the summer to teach something new that will be useful in the class is an idea I would definitely love to use.
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