Sonnyjanenash Internshipreport February2022 v1 2

INTERNSHIP DIGITAL LEARNING & LEARNING DESIGN 1
IIEP UNESCO, TRAINING UNIT
Internship in Digital Learning & Learning Design
IIEP, UNESCO, Training Unit
Sonny Jane Nash
Department of Education
Concordia University
Internship Supervisor: Dr. Steven Shaw
Internship Coordinator: Rosa Cerone

Table of Contents
.................................................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.2
ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................................................................35
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................46
DESCRIPTION OF THE HOST ORGANIZATION ..................................................................................... 46
CONTRACTING PROCESS ............................................................................................................. 57
INTERNSHIP OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE ............................................................................................... 58
BACKGROUND RESEARCH ............................................................................................................ 68
CHAPTER 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE MAIN PROJECTS ....................................................................... 1015
CHAPTER 3. REFLECTIONS ON THE INTERNSHIP PROCESS ........................................................... 2532
CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................. 3138
THE ETEC PROGRAM ............................................................................................................. 3238
Core vs. Elective Courses .............................................................................................. 3238
Storyboarding ............................................................................................................... 3339
THE INTERNSHIP COMPONENT OF THE ETEC PROGRAM .................................................................. 3339
THE HOST ORGANIZATION ...................................................................................................... 3540
FUTURE INTERNSHIP STUDENTS ................................................................................................. 3540
Applying to Internships ................................................................................................. 3540
Choose Wisely ............................................................................................................... 3541
Ask Questions ............................................................................................................... 3642
Adopt a growth mindset ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.42
Get Involved ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.42
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................. 3643
FINAL WORDS....................................................................................................................... 3644
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................................................... 3745
Abstract
A 960-hour remote internship was completed at IIEP, UNESCO (Paris) between May 2021 and
November 2021. The focus of the internship was on capacity building for educational planning
through digital learning, and more specifically, on the design & development of blended Commented [oa1]: And?
learning courses aimed at enhancing the digital skills of the IIEP teaching staff.
In doing so, this internship required me to work with two major teams: the IIEP Training Unit Commented [oa2]: With two major teams?
(TEP) and the Virtual Campus Team (CVI), and to participate in these teams on a regular basis
by: taking part in weekly meetings, assisting with pilot studies, lending a hand with any last-
minute project needs, attending webinars, facilitating coaching/information sessions, etc.
In addition to this, I participated in three major projects:
- The creation of a professional development module for the IIEP teaching staff on
how to use videos for learning using RISE.
- The redesign of a for credit-course that was previously offered to IIEP teaching staff
in 2019. The purpose of this project was to help transition the course from in-person
to online, and thus I was tasked with making the modules more interactive using
RISE and redesigning some of the PowerPoint presentations.
- Ddevelop a module on Learning Design using Storyline. This module was part of a
larger course, referred to as a Learning Cycle, and was geared toward enhancing the
digital skills of the IIEP teaching staff.
The report to follow will discuss these three projects in detail, as well as my overall experience
as a student in the Education Technology program at Concordia University and as an intern with
IIEP.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Description of the Host Organization
The International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) was established in 1963, Paris,
as a UNESCO initiative to promote educational policy, planning and management, and it plays a
unique role within the United Nations being the sole organization fulfilling this mandate. In
addition to the headquarter, there are two additional IIEP offices that are located in Dakar and
Buenos Aires, and each of these also offer support to governments in planning and managing
their education systems in effort of attaining their national objectives and development goals.
In doing so, IIEP develops sustainable educational capacity through:
• Training programs
• Technical assistance to ministries of education and other institutions
• Educational research
• Knowledge sharing
As an intern for the IIEP training office in Paris, I worked with two major teams: the IIEP Training
Unit (TEP) and the Virtual Campus Team (CVI). Each of these teams has a set of distinct
functions and responsibilities which are outlined below.
The IIEP Training Unit (TEP)
The TEP is responsible for organizing in-person, as well as online training for
educational planners and managers throughout the world. This was a large team of
approximately 30 employees, and specialized in the development in of advanced training
programmes, education sector planning, specialized and online courses.
The Virtual Campus Team (CVI)
The CVI team is charged with developing technology-enhanced learning programs in line
with IIEP’s capacity-development initiatives. More specifically, this team focuses on researching
the latest digital enhanced learning trends, ensuring the quality of their digital training offers
while introducing innovation, creating learning materials, guides, and digital toolkits,
facilitating, and delivering webinars, online courses, and MOOCs, and managing and supporting
online learning communities.
Contracting Process
The contracting process was relatively simple. Rosa Cerone forwarded the internship Commented [oa3]: I think you should include her title and
where she works
proposal to eligible students, and I immediately decided to apply. This required me to update
my resume and organize it according to Rosa’s suggestions and then write a cover letter.
Shortly aAfter sending it to the IIEP hiring manager, I was contacted for an interview
immediately.
The interview was conducted on Microsoft Teams by Ioanna Kosteridou, who was to
become by on-site supervisor, and her immediate manager, Jimena Pereyra, and lasted
approximately 25-minutes. During the interview I was asked about my previous experience and
to discuss why I thought I would be a good fit for the role. Additionally, the reiterated that the
internship contract would be for a duration of 6-months, instead of the 4-month period
required by the ETEC graduate program and that it would be without pay. Lastly, they asked
about my motivations for choosing this particular internship.
A couple of weeks later, I received an email from Ioanna Kosteridou informing me that I
had been chosen to join their team. Once I accepted, we proceeded to negotiate the start date
and vacation dates for the internship and the contract was signed and completed.
Internship Objectives and Scope
The following section will detail the scope and objectives of the internship as outlined in
the internship proposal.
Functional Responsibilities
• Explore the latest trends in digital learning
• Research and analyze the latest trends in learning experiences related to the
development of digital skills needed for online teaching

• Participate in the design and development of a blended course (the learning cycle) to
enhance the digital skills of the IIEP teaching staff
• Practice Design Thinking principles and methodologies
• Work with authoring tools in creating digital content
• Contribute and collaborate with team members
Background Research
The following section will provide a summary of the background research that served to
inform my decisions on how to undertake the above-mentioned projects and activities.
Organizational Research
As with any other prospective place of employment, I wanted to obtain as much
information about the organization as possible, before I started the interenshiprehand. I
obviously do this to prepare for the interview, but more importantly, to also assess whether the
prospective place of employment will be a good fit. Having said that, I consulted the following Commented [oa4]: This sentence is not really clear
websites to gather my information for the organizational research:
IIEP Website
I researched the organization by first looking at IIEP’s official website (IIEP-UNESCO |
International Institute for Educational Planning). In doing so, I was able to gather general
information about the organization, but also, I was able to ensure that their core mission and
goals resonated with my own interests and passions. Additionally, I was able to gather
information about the department, and prospective colleagues, in effort of assessing the
culture of the organization.
United Nations Public Documents
Although I would have liked to obtain mote detailed information about IIEP’s employee
benefits and organizational culture, I was not able to locate any public documents that allowed
me to do so. That said, during my research, I did come across two public documents regarding
the United Nations that helped to shed some light in these areas, as detailed below.
Staff Regulations and Rules. The Staff Regulations and Rules publication (UNESCO,
2021) detailed information regarding employee benefits such as salaries, allowances, and
employee benefits. Additionally, it helped to shed some light on the organizational structure as
it had a section denoted to post and staff classifications.
A Guide to Staff Benefits. Another publication that I came across that was useful and
went into more detail about staffing benefits was The Guide to Staff Benefits (2000
(unesco.org).
I found this publication to be useful as it gave more detailed information on salary scales and
other employee benefits.
News Headlines & and Social Media
Exploring news headlines and social media outlets is a good way of gaining a ‘feel’ for
an organization and of identifying any potential red flags. In doing so, I searched for general
news coverage by googling “IIEP” and selecting the news tab. This allowed me to sift through
recent news articles and scan those which seemed relevant. As such, I was able to gather a
general idea of the organization’s overall reputation, both from the public and employee
perspective. I felt this to be especially true when searching for comments on Facebook and
Twitter feeds. This Both social media feeds also proved to be useful in assessing how the
organization uses these platforms to promote itself, whilst becoming familiar with IIEP’s main
projects.
Company Reviews
Company reviews can be useful as they can provide job seekers with additional information
which may prove to be useful in deciding whether a company/organization is the right fit. That
said, there are many employment sites that offer reviews and some of these features employee-
based content including reviews and ratings, while others produce their own employer reviews
by analyzing companies on their own.
For the purposes of my research, I consulted the following sites:
Glassdoor. Glassdoor is a well-known employer review site that has built a database of
million company reviews, leadership/management ratings, salary reports, job interview tips,
employee benefits reports, and workplace insights. All the data is generated by employees
which is a great way to gain an external and trustworthy perspective of an organization.
In looking through Glassdoor’s reviews for IIEP, I checked its overall rating, the
‘recommend to a friend’ percentage, and the employee reviews.
Indeed. Indeed’s employer reviews are segmented into a list of the best places to work
and has 500-plus companies for which reviews and ratings are offered by current and past
employees. Indeed is very much like Glassdoor in the way employee reviews are conducted, and
similarly provides both individual ratings and cumulative ones. In going through these, I
searched for the overall company review rating, work/life balance rating, and the employee
reviews (pros and cons).
Research on Project Activities
In addition to conducting research about the organization, I wanted to research about
the functional responsibilities as outlined in the internship proposal.
Digital Skills & Online Learning. The first functional responsibility mentioned in the
proposal was digital and online learning skills. For the digital skill component, I made an
inventory of the ones I felt I was proficient in, and then identified gaps I felt were present in this
area.
To brush up on my online learning knowledge, I consulted the Journal of Education
Technology and Online Learning and read through several articles. More specifically, the article
titled Assuring quality in online learning allowed me to brush up on the principles of online
learning to ensure quality learning systems and program evaluations (Cheek, 2021).
Latest Developments in Digital Learning. I also consulted the book The Association
for Talent Development ATDtd's 2020 trends in learning technology (Brusino, 2020) in effort of
exploring the latest developments in digital learning. This book detailed the latest emerging
technology trends that are transforming learning and talent development, and covers topics
such as microlearning, podcasting, UX/LX, AI, etc. (Brusino, 2020). Additionally, I consulted the
eBook Innovative Education in Technology-supported Environments by Li, Tsang, and& Wong
(2020) as it presented many perspectives on effective educational models, as well as the latest
innovations in pedagogies, curriculums, and the uses of technology in teaching. I found the
examples on the uses for new pedagogical technologies applied in a variety of contexts to be
especially pertinent and useful.
Blended Learning. The Book Innovative Education in Technology-supported
Environments was equally useful in refreshing my knowledge about blended learning as its first
chapter is solely focused on blended learning approaches and trends, whilst offering an
overview of available research and resources in the field of blended learning (Li, Tsang, & Wong,
2020).
Authoring Tools & Digital Content. Although I had some previous experience creating Commented [oa5]: ? not sure it is APA
digital content using authoring tools, I felt that I needed some practice and decided to do a few
of the tutorials offered by E-Learning Heroes to brush up on my skills. Ultimately, I felt that
these provided me with the confidence I needed to move forward with this internship.
Design Thinking Principles & Methodologies. Although I had a general idea about the Commented [oa6]: See comment above
Design Thinking approach, I had no previous experience using it and wanted to become more
familiar with its principles and methodology. That said, I decided to do some research and
ended up downloading and reading the eBook titled Design Thinking Research which allowed
me to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the design thinking solution-based
approach to solving problems (Plattner, Meinel, Leifer, 2018). Corresponding research also
enabled me to become familiar with the five stages of this approach, namely, the empathizing,
defining (of the problem), ideation, prototyping, and testing phases in such a way that I felt
comfortable with each of these moving forward (Dam & Siang, 2018).
Design Thinking Coursera course. Lastly, I also decided to sign up for a Design
Thinking course offered by Coursera as I felt that this self-paced course would provide me with
some more ‘hands-on’ knowledge that could be added to the theoretical knowledge I gained
from reading the book and article mentioned in the previous section. That said, I signed up for
the Coursera course Design Thinking for the Greater Good in March 2021, as I felt that its
focus on the social sector would be especially pertinent for the skills I would need during this
internship. I felt that this course was beneficial as it introduced this approach through ten
stories of struggles and successes within the social sector, while illustrating the effects that
collaborative creativity can have on these (Design Thinking for the Greater Good: Innovation in
the Social Sector | Coursera). I especially felt that this course was a useful tool for giving me
tangible ideas that I could use to reframe problems, ideate solutions, and iterate toward better
answers, and ultimately, acted as a catalyst informing my choice to accept this internship.
Ontario Extend MOOC. Once I accepted my internship, IIEP asked me to take part in a
course prior to beginning my internship, which they felt would be beneficial in helping me to
gain some knowledge about the future projects that I would be working on. The course that I
was asked to take part in was offered by Ontario Extend and was centered on the skills that
educators need to teach in a digital age. In completing this course, I was able to become
familiar with the skills required to create technology-enabled content as well as the knowledge
required to do so, and the ability to acquire resources, facilitate learning experiences, and
design effective online assessments.
More specifically, the program framework for this course was built on Simon Bates’
(2016) model for the anatomy of the 21st century educator that encompasses the knowledge,
skills, and attitudes identified as the foundational skills required to “thrive (and not just survive)
in a digital world” (Coldwell-Nelson, 2018; Martin & Grudziecki, 2006) and was comprised of six
sequential modules, each taking between 3 and 5 hours to complete.
Chapter 2. Description of the Main Projects
The main purpose of the internship with IIEP was to contribute to the design and
development of online learning courses for the IIEP teaching staff, in light of the COVID-19
pandemic. More specifically, many of the courses that were previously offered in person by
educational programmers were suddenly obligated to be delivered online, requiring to be
uniquely adapted to this medium (Barber, 2020). For this reason, IIEP decided to create a
selection of courses with the aim of educating its teaching staff on how to best utilize and
enhance their skills to meet the demands of this new learning environment.
That said, the following chapter will provide a comprehensive account of the projects
and activities I was asked to carry out during my internship, as well as a description of the ETEC
components which were instrumental in preparing me to carry these out.
Projects
Project 1. Personal development course
Description & Objectives. My first project was to create a personal development
eLearning module on how to create effective videos for learning. This module was intended to
be used as a quick tool of reference to help the IIEP teaching staff increase their skills in this
area in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
My Role. I was asked to create this module independently, using Adobe RISE, without
access to SMEs, or any background information. That said, my role for this project required me
to act as both a content and course developer, and I was given a 4-week deadline.
Research. Online learning is a versatile platform, and to create a successful online
learning environment, one must be mindful to use a design and delivery approach that is well
suited to this platform (Alsadhan, Alhomod, Shafi, 2014). More specifically, creating optimal
online learning experiences requires one to apply pedagogical content knowledge in such a way
that it is organized to promote an optimal learning experience using digital technology
(Rapantha, Botturi, & Goodyear, 2020).
Steps Undertaken. In order to achieve this, a framework that is adapted for eLearning
must be used, or at least one that can be adapted to incorporate the information technology
aspects needed for online learning (Salloum & Shaalan, 2018). Regardless, the most important
aspect of course development is to always place emphasis on its structure, rather that its
delivery (Norton and Hathaway, 2017).
That said, I used the textbook provided in my Introduction to Educational Technology
course to gather the required information needed to develop this project. In doing so, I also
employed ADDIE, which was the proposed instructional model within this text.
An instructional design model or framework is a tool that can be used to provide
educators with the structure needed to develop their course content in the most optimal
manner (Cheung, 2016). Doing so is helpful in being able to identify the methods and activities,
structure, interactive elements and page flow, content, and media assets (“Instructional Design
Models”, 2018), and is essentially the blueprint of the course that will be used to guide the
development of the course in a software.
Although there are many instructional models, I chose ADDIE as it is a reputable
framework that is well-known within the field of instructional design and a trusted tool used to
develop effective learning materials (Drljača, Latinović, Stanković, & Cvetković,
2017).Furthermore, the ADDIE model can be easily adapted to fit the needs required to develop
online learning materials, and research has shown that this model applied in an e-learning
environment can be quite effective (Almelhi, 2021).
Step 1: Gathering Information. The first aspect of this project was to gather
information that would be needed for the training needs analysis. In doing so, I met with my on-
site supervisor several times to gain a better understanding of what was expected for the
project’s completion.
During this process, it became clear to me that I would be very much left to my own
devices and that there were no SMEs or any other sources of information available to me.
The only aspects of this project that were made explicit to me were that it had to be completed
within four weeks, it had to be done on RISE, and that it was geared toward the IIEP teaching
staff. Nonetheless, I did as much research as possible in effort of gaining enough information
to develop my need’s analysis.
Step 2: Research. Despite my limited access to information resources for this project, I
needed to understand who my audience was for this project. According to the book Professional
Communications, gaining a better understanding of your audience is instrumental in being able
to craft your message in such a way that it will be received the way you intend it to be
(Dingwall, Labrie, McLennon, Underwood, 2016). In doing so, I attempted to gain information
that would help me to understand who my audience was, what level of knowledge they
possessed, their demographics, their needs, and interests, as well as their environment
(Dingwall, Labrie, McLennon, & Underwood, 2016).
My audience for this project was the IIEP teaching staff, and I researched them via the
resources that were available to me, namely, the internet and the IIEP shared depository/ “box”.
In doing so, I was able to decipher that my audience was quite varied in terms of experience,
education, and cultural background. That said, I considered these factors moving forward.
Step 3: Creating a Need’s Analysis
For the next step of this project, I referred to the book Training Design Basics (Carliner, 2015),
which guided me on the information needed for my need analysis. In doing so, I answered the
following questions:
1. Restate the request: I spoke to my on-site supervisor and confirmed the request which
was to develop a short personal development learning module using RISE to help the IIEP
teaching staff revise their skills on using videos for learning.
2. Identify the business need: The project was deemed to benefit the sponsor (IIEP) by
containing expenses. This would be achieved by teaching the IIEP teaching staff how to
make effective videos for learning and thus serve to decrease overall revisions and do-
overs.
3. Description of performance scenario:
The current performance scenario: The IIEP teaching staff create inefficient learning
videos which result in a waste of resources.
The ideal performance scenario: The IIEP teaching staff create efficient learning videos
and do not waste resources.
4. Learning goals & objectives: After reviewing these with my on-site supervisor, the goal
and objectives for this course were to:
Goal: Help the IIEP teaching staff know how to use videos for learning
Objectives: -Understand when to use videos for learning Commented [oa7]: Can you say: IIEP teaching staff will use
videos for learning when appropriate
-Differentiate between the different types of videos for learning
-Allocate the appropriate time for learning videos

-Make effective learning videos
5. Description of learners and their influences: IIEP Educational Planners with high levels of
education and a range of experience. Previous range of knowledge, however, assumed
that there is limited knowledge in knowing how to create videos for learning. Influencing
factors that could potentially affect learning are mainly due to cultural and geographical
region differences which may serve to hinder communication or access to the course
itself.
6. Issues affecting learning: Although I was still quite unfamiliar with the organization at
this point, some issues that I identified that could affect learning and the application of
this module into the work environment were access to the internet (seeing as the IIEP
teaching staff were scattered all over the world), opposing views in terms of how to
make learning videos, and resistance to change.
7. Product constraints: For this project, the only guidelines that were communicated to me
were the technological guidelines. In this case I was asked to use RISE to develop the
training module.
8. Project constraints: One month deadline.
Step 4: Choosing an instructional strategy. For this module, I developed the activities
using a discovery learning strategy. In the book Training Design Basics, Carliner (2015)
recommends using this approach when teaching skills where learners are asked to make
judgements. In doing so, learners need to discover key learning points by responding to
questions or taking part in an activity, and feedback is provided throughout to reinforce
learning points. I felt that this was an appropriate strategy to use, given the diversity of my
audience, as it allowed them to partake in the activities on a voluntary basis and these could be
completed as often as they liked. Furthermore, discovery learning is said to yield positive
results and can work to improve students’ learning outcomes (Ashfahani, Haryono, & Kustiono,
2020).
Step 5: Design & Development. According to the book Training Design Basics, online
self-study programs have three levels of complexity, and after reviewing there, I deemed this
one as a being level 2 eLearning module (Carliner, 2015). More specifically, this meant that my
RISE module would entail the integration of many different components, such as slide casts,
videos, animations, activities, as well as outside readings (Carliner, 2015).
In doing so, I first had to become accustomed using the RISE authoring tool. This didn’t
take very long as I had some previous experience using authoring tools, and this one proved to
be quite user-friendly. However, I did need to brush up on my video editing and GIF-making
skills, and this proved to be more time-consuming. Lastly, I also incorporated many activities
and scenarios that provided instant, personalized feedback to the learners throughout the
module.
Feedback is useful during eLearning as it is aimed at engaging, informing, and
increasing
knowledge by decreasing discrepancies between current understanding and
performance goals (Wood, 2019). Furthermore, providing learners with immediate feedback, it
allows learners to pause, engage, and modify their behaviour in that moment. Additionally,
immediate feedback makes learning an active rather than passive experience (Wood, 2019), and
this type of formative feedback can help students develop a learning orientation, and thus work
to improve their competence toward achieving their learning goals (Shute, 2008).
Step 6: Review. The review process for this module was quite tedious and long. I felt
that this was due to the fact that I developed the content on my own, and despite spending a lot
of time researching it, I often found myself having to choose between conflicting information. A
prime example of this is how long videos for learning should be to ensure optimal engagement.
Despite knowing that the information I found would not be well-received by my colleagues, I
included it because it was based on the most recent and most recent research available.
Needless to say, this caused many heated debates to ensue, and in the end, I had to adjust it to
my colleagues wishes.
Another factor that caused the review process to be long, was that I failed to create a
storyboard for this project and thus lost a lot of time as a result. Storyboards are a useful tool
that should be used to improve design and to avoid anything that might not be possible to
achieve or difficult to understand (Tool, 2021). By being based on detailed visual and/or
graphical representation of a narrative, the storyboard can save the learning designer a lot of
time by eliminating components prior to their execution (Tool, 2021).
Despite these setbacks, I found the review process to be beneficial as it presented me
with an opportunity to learn and understand would be expected of me moving forward.
Challenges. Most of the challenges I encountered, I felt, resulted from a lack of
communication. More specifically, despite having many meetings with my on-site supervisor,
these were often rushed, and many times I left them feeling more confused and with many
unanswered questions. Additionally, the fact that I was not given access to any material, nor
access to any SMEs, on which to gather my information, resulted in me having to base the entire
module on information that I researched and collected. As previously mentioned, this
information was often conflicting in data, and also with my colleagues wants and expectations.
Additionally, the many of the guidelines were not made clear to me, such as the editorial
guidelines, the design guidelines, as well as any templates the organization may use. In
hindsight, ensuring my access to this information would have saved me a lot of time and effort
during the production and review process. Lastly, the review process was tedious and very time-
consuming. It also often resulted in conflicting opinions on what to change and this proved to
be difficult in knowing which feedback to select when updating my module.
Overcoming Challenges. In effort of overcoming the challenge which resulted from the
lack of communication, I organized myself adequately prior to meeting with my on-site by
preparing a detailed list of questions and making sure to ask for clarification when something
was not understood. This often helped in making things run more smoothly and in knowing
what was realistic or not to pursue. For instance, at one point, she my suppervisor had asked
me to film my own welcome video and after attempting to do so several times, I felt I just didn’t
know how to make one which I felt was adequate. Once I expressed this to her, she asked me to
let it go as she did not have time to teach me how to make one.
Although the research I did often yielded a lot of conflicting information, I discussed this
with my on-site prior to incorporating it, in hopes of gaining some guidance on how to proceed.
This ultimately proved to be fruitless as I was asked to revise much of it from the rest of the
team during the review process. Regardless, had I created a storyboard for this project and had
it reviewed, I would have saved a lot of time. This was a lesson I learned the hard way, but it
was a learning experience nonetheless, one which proved to be useful moving forward.
Successes. Overall, I felt that this was a good project for my first solo experience as a
learning designer. I felt that I learned a lot, and I especially appreciated learning a new
authoring tool, whilst also gaining experience developing course content independently.
Overall, I felt that my module was very well-received, and I enjoyed the process tremendously.
ETEC Components. Many components from the ETEC program proved to be
instrumental in helping to develop this module. As previously mentioned, I often referred to the
Introduction to Instructional Design course manual, Training Design Basics (Carliner, 2015), Commented [oa8]: Saul will be so happy you quoted him
repeatedly
especially for the development of the steps and the need’s analysis needed to create this
module.
Another course that I found to be helpful toward the development of this course was the
elective media course that I took during this program titled Introduction to Digital Media (ETEC
665). Without this course I would not have had the skills required to complete this module on
my own, as this is where I accrued my graphic design software and video editing skills.
Moreover, this course taught me how to use open-source resources for developing courses
using digital media and allowed me to explore the affordances and challenges of online
learning environments based on the growing trends and adoptions of digital media.
Main Takeaways. In the ETEC program, we were often warned about the communication
setbacks we would be sure to encounter in this field. That said, I believe I gained some first-
hand experience with this completing my first project which proved to be instrumental moving
forward.
Moreover, the importance of creating a storyboard became very obvious to me during
this first project. Had I taken the time to make one, I could have shown this to the review team
prior to developing my module. More specifically, by laying out the framework for this module
would have not only helped me to organize the content, but also the review team in being able
to visualize the module. This would have aided in team collaboration, identified weaknesses in
the design, and ultimately saved a lot of time, and resolved many of the communication issues
that presented themselves during this process. For example, had I sent a detailed storyboard to
the review team prior to designing the actual course, I would have received feedback on the
content and its delivery beforehand, which would have added clarity, and ultimately saved me a
lot of time and effort. Although, I believe this to always be an important step, it is especially
crucial when developing a course or module without the help of SMEs or the guidance of a
team.
The last major takeaway from this project was to not get ‘stuck’ one component when
you’re having trouble with it. More specifically, I was intent on creating a branching scenario in
RISE and was having a lot of trouble realizing it. This was due the fact that although RISE does
have a scenario option, it simply wasn’t sophisticated enough to create what I was visualizing.
That said, I wasted a lot of time watching tutorials and experimenting with the tool in effort of
trying to make something not possible happen. This resulted in my having to rush to finish the
rest of my module in effort of meeting the deadline, which was quite stressful, and ultimately,
limited my creativity.
Project 2. Course Redesign
For my second project, I participated in the redesign of a for-credit course titled EPM
314: Education Sector Project Design, and which had been previously offered in 2019. The
purpose of this redesign was to update the course, which was transitioning from in-person to
online format, thus more suitable for online learning.
Course Objectives. The objectives for this course were cendered on providing participants
with the necessary competencies and technical skills to design, monitor and evaluate
development aid programmes and projects within the education sector.
My Contributions. As it was the first time that the EPN 314 course was to be offered
completely online, I was asked to redesign previous PowerPoint presentations and make them
more suitable for online learning. In doing so, I was tasked with removing some of their
content, assuring their cohesiveness, and making them more interactive.

In doing so, I began by creating a new template that conformed with IIEP's style standards
and used this as a basis for all PowerPoint materials. Moreover, I redesigned all the graphs and
tables, and transferred some of these into GIFs to increase their interactivity.
Lastly, I also met with SMEs on several occasions to assess whether the proposed changes
were acceptable and also to clarify information at times.
Challenges. The main challenge I encountered from this second project mostly stemmed
from how boring and monotonous it was. This was due to the fact that I was already quite Commented [oa9]:
comfortable using PowerPoint, and it therefore didn’t offer an opportunity for learning to me,
especially compared to the previous project. That said, I found it difficult to stay focused at
times, and was less excited to begin working everyday.
Another major challenge encountered resulted from the fact that I was working with
previously developed material. That said, at times, I found it extremely difficult to decipher the
information within the PowerPoints I was redesigning, and scheduling meetings to clarify these
with the SMEs was next to impossible. Being in a different time-zone only served to make these
meeting additionally challenging to schedule, and this was further compounded by the fact that
many of the SMEs I needed happened to be on summer holidays at that time. In the end, this
resulted in the project taking much longer than anticipated to complete.
The last challenge I was faced with for this project, was due to the non-existence of
templates previously used to create this course material. More specifically, within the modules I
was tasked with redesigning, there were many tables and graphs that I had to completely re-
create as they were not saved in IIEP’s internal box, which served as the organization’s internal
knowledge repository.
This is a perfect example of how a lack of a knowledge management system in an
organization can be detrimental to its productivity, in this case, by wasting valuable employee
time that could otherwise be used elsewhere. This is because knowledge management can be
an instrumental tool to help organizations maintain a competitive advantage by ensuring that
the information within it is well-identified, organized, stored, and disseminated (Liebowitz,

2000). This in turn, creates a more seamless transfer of the knowledge within it, by making it
more accessible and retrievable to its employees (Brahmi & Mustafa, 2019).
Overcoming the Challenges. To overcome some of the challenges that this project
presented, I decided to focus on making it more enjoyable for myself. In doing so, I chose to
develop a new skill everyday that could be used toward this project. For example, instead of
redesigning tables or templates using the predefined PowerPoint templates, I researched the
best way to deliver the information and then design the table, GIF or graph myself using other
tools such as Canva or Snappa, and then imported these into my PowerPoint slides. This helped
to mitigate the monotony of the work I was tasked with.
Furthermore, I brought up the knowledge management issue in a meeting and was granted
the permission to develop a folder in the IIEP shared repository which would serve to store
templates used for projects. This helped make me feel more useful and gave this project more
meaning.
Lastly, I decided to be more flexible with my working hours and made myself available
earlier so that I could meet with SMEs more easily. Although it was not convenient for me to
begin working at 4am, it proved to save me a lot of time and frustration.
Successes. The successes from this particular project stemmed from the experience I
gained working with SMEs and communicating and finding solutions to the frustrations
encountered within it with my team. Overall, I felt that my contributions for this project were
appreciated and valued.
ETEC Components. The ETEC components that proved to be most useful during the
development of this project were mainly derived from the Fundamentals of Instructional Design
course (ETEC 650) I took during my first semester in the program. More specifically, the project
I was asked to develop during this course was done using PowerPoint and I felt that this
experience served to refresh and refine my skill in such a way that I was able to use the tool
with ease, which in turn, provided me with more energy to focus on developing new skills that
could be used to deliver the content in different and more interesting ways.
Correspondingly, I found the text for this course to be useful during the course of this
project, especially in regard to the instructions provided in chapter 8 on how to best prepare
and produce instructional materials. More specifically, I found myself referring to it when
designing my slides for the general tips in terms of proportion, typeface, and size, as well as on
how to prepare complex visual and audiovisual components.
Another course that proved to be advantageous for this project’s development was the
Knowledge Management (ETEC 652) course offered by Dr. Steven Shaw, which I also took
during my first semester. This course taught me about the importance of information
accessibility and how it can serve to influence the design and development of instructional
design systems within an organization. Ultimately, it was this course that gave me the ability to
recognize that many the frustrations I encountered during this project’s development were due
to a lack of a knowledge management system being in place. This, in turn, reflected much of
the literature I read in this course, which points to there being a positive correlation between
knowledge management systems and organizational productivity (Spector & Edmonds, 2002).
Main Takeaways. The main takeaways from this project revolved around the importance of
having a knowledge management system in place to facilitate the instructional design process.
Although organizational knowledge management processes are complex and multi-faceted, and
ultimately quite complicated systems to implement (Liebowitz, 2000), there exists many ways
to store knowledge within an organization should there not be a formal knowledge
management system in place. That said, there is no reason why a team within an organization
should not, at the very least, have a simple knowledge system in place to improve the
understanding and collaboration of the team members within it.
Project 3. Learning Cycle Module
For my last project, I was finally given the opportunity to work on the course titled the IIEP
Learning Cycle: Becoming a 21 st century educator, which was the course I was hired to
contribute to as an intern. Unfortunately, I was only able to work on it during the last two
months of the internship.

Course Objectives. The purpose of this course was to help foster a shared
understanding of the core values and learning design principles underlying IIEP training, to
reinforce digital skills to design, develop, and facilitate online training to build individual and
institutional capacities, and to develop the confidence teach online in 21st century using
adequate and relevant technology to enhance learning.
My Contributions. Although I was hired to participate in all aspects of this course, I
joined the team a little later than anticipated and missed the planning stage of its development.
In addition to this, other projects took longer than expected and resulted in my only being able
to contribute to this course much later that anticipated. That said, I was asked to develop one
of the modules for this course on my own but was also able to contribute to other aspects of
the course when needed.
The module I was asked to develop on my own was on Learning Design and was
intended to provide a more concise and interactive version of IIEP’s Learning Design Handbook,
on which it was to be based. That said, the handbook was quite lengthy (160 pages) and
difficult to follow, causing this final project to be quite challenging.
To begin, I had to become familiar with the information within it, and therefore had to
be sure to review and understand the information within it. This was quite time-consuming and
took longer than expected. My next task was to create a storyboard. Again, I found this to more
time-consuming and difficult than expected as the information within it was quite convoluted
and difficult to follow. Due to this, I found myself doing a lot of back-and-forth, and
reorganizing steps in the storyboard several times. Overall, this proved to be a very difficult
task for me to accomplish and took much longer than expected as I had to present my
storyboard several times to my colleagues and incorporate their feedback before it could finally
be approved.
In addition to this, I was asked to help create the podcast for the introduction of the
course. More specifically, I was assigned a role and needed to record several pages of narrative,
and later, edit the audio files from the entire team, to ensure overall quality. In order to achieve
this, I used VLC Media Player to record, edit and convert the audio files.
Lastly, I was asked to also contribute to this course by acting as a facilitator during the
ZOOM coaching sessions for the pilot’s delivery, and was simply charged helping learners
navigate the platform, and organized the polls, breakout rooms and recordings. I was also
responsible for uploading these recordings onto the LMS so that participants could access them
as needed.
Challenges. The main challenge I encountered during this project was trying to decipher
the information within the handbook to include in my storyboard. This was particularly
challenging due to the length of the document and the disorganization of the information
within it. This proved to be quite frustrating as I was largely working on my own again at this
point and wasn’t given much guidance throughout its development. Moreover, this resulted in
me taking a lot more time to develop my storyboard and, ultimately, took time away from the
development of my module.
That said, I was not able to produce my module using Storyline, as originally intended.
This was because I was unfamiliar with this authoring tool and needed more time than was left
to use it. Although disappointed, I decided to rapidly produce the module in RISE, and allocated
the remainder of my time to learning Storyline. In the end, I was able to incorporate some
interactive narratives that I created in Storyline into my RISE module.
Another challenge was working with the script for the podcast as the language seemed
too unnatural and “scripted” for it come of as being an authentic podcast. That said, I adapted
my script to fit what I felt sounded like a more natural narrative that one would here on a
podcast.
Overcoming Challenges. I overcame the challenges by being open-minded, flexible,
and as independent, as possible. Seeing as these challenges presented themselves at the very
end of my internship, I felt that I navigated these with more ease and confidence than at the
beginning, and being faced with obstacles became less and less daunting. Overall, I would say
that my go-to strategies always involved keeping a positive attitude, communicating effectively,
admitting when I needed help, being pragmatic, and staying open minded, and finally, setting
goals, as well as timelines.
Successes. I encountered many successes during the development of this project.
Firstly, I learned how difficult and time-consuming it can be to create a very detailed storyboard.
However, I also learned how valuable it is to have a detailed storyboard, and how much time it
ultimately saves you in the end. Seeing as I do not have a lot of experience making these, I got
to experiment with different types and now know which I like using best.
Making the podcast was also fun. I had never done anything like that in the past, so I
was pleased to be part of it. In this way, I got to brush up on my audio editing skills, while also
developing a new skill: acting!
Lastly, I also enjoyed acting as a facilitator as I was able to put a face to the audience, I
had been creating modules for. Also, it is only during these coaching sessions that I felt I was
actually working for the U.N.
ETEC Components. The ETEC components that played the biggest role in helping me be
able to develop this last project, were Fundamentals of Instructional Design (ETEC 650),
Evaluation in Education and Training (ETEC 636), and Introduction to Digital Media in Education
(ETEC 665).
The first course (ETEC 650) proved to be instrumental as it provided me with the
foundational knowledge that I needed to develop a purposeful, organized, and focused learning
module. Namely, I relied on the knowledge I gained during this course to develop my
instructional strategy on which to base the design of my module.
The evaluation course (ETEC 636) taught me about the importance of assessment in
learning and helped guide me in developing the appropriate one for module, namely, the most
suited to assess the performance and learning capabilities of my target audience. More Commented [oa10]: This is not clear to me. Did you develop
an assessment tool for only one module? If so which one?
specifically, it helped me to develop formative learning assessments that reflected the learning Commented [oa11]: For all projects/
targets and to design adequate learning experiences to address the intended transfer of
learning.
Lastly, the digital media class (ETEC 665) was useful as it provided me with the
recording and editing skills needed to create my portion of the podcast for the introduction of
this course, as well as well as the other interactive aspects of the module I created. Moreover,
this course taught me about content accessibility and on when it is best to use materials or to
create new content.
Main Takeaways. For this final project, I had several takeaways. The most notable of
these was how utterly time-consuming it can be to create a detailed a detailed storyboard.
However, a storyboard is an essential step in the development of eLearning materials as it
provides a detailed map that can be used to make the design and development process much
more dynamic and efficient, as it can be used as a vessel to clearly communicate the ideas and
visions of the learning designer (Pani, 2021). That said, a well-executed storyboard can be very
time-consuming to prepare, but when done properly, it is certain to save on the overall time and
effort it would take to create learning materials without one (Pani, 2021). In fact, this may be
the most important lesson I learned during this internship, as having known about and take the
time to develop storyboards for every one of these projects, I feel that many of the problems I
encountered would have been less prominent, or non-existent.
Chapter 3. Reflections on the Internship Process
Evaluating the internship experience is an essential component of the internship process
as it allows one to make sense and grow from their learning experience (Anjum, 2020).
Moreover, the logic of constructivist interventions maintains that student self-reflection is
important as it assesses not only individual learning, but also involves ‘double-loop’ learning as
interns have the opportunity to learn from both their internship projects, and their own
behavioral tendencies and team effectiveness (Boud, Keogh, Walker, 2013).
That said, the sections to follow will discuss my reflections on the internship process by
dividing these into two main parts, namely, its strengths and its weaknesses.
Strengths
The main purpose of an internship should be to add a valuable learning experience for
the intern, and to bridge the gap between the academic and the working world (Anjum, 2020).
That said, internships can be a positive experience for both the intern and the hosting
organization, as will be illustrated below.
My Benefits
I felt that my choice to pursue an internship with IIEP was a good one, one that yielded
many benefits, mainly in regard to the opportunity it afforded me to gain confidence utilizing
the skills I learnt in the classroom, whilst gaining some real-life work experience that I would
need moving forward. In the paragraphs to follow, I will discuss each of these in more detail.
Explored a Career Path. Internship experience is invaluable in that it allows interns to
explore a chosen career path without necessarily committing to it. While working as an intern
for IIEP, UNESCO, I felt that I was able to receive hands-on (virtual) experience working as a
learning designer within the international sector, which is known to be quite different to other
sectors (Ott & Dicke, 2021).
Having said that, I feel that this was an especially beneficial experience for me, not
having had any career-related experience within it. This internship not only allowed me to
become acquainted with the international sector, but also provided me with enough experience
to know if this was the right choice for me, moving forward.
Development of Employable Skillset. Working at IIEP was invaluable as it provided me
with the hands-on work experience I needed to transition from student to employee.
Correspondingly, in the article Learning from Tacit Knowledge, the authors maintain that
internships provide students an opportunity to learn what is not readily available in the
classroom, and that such knowledge includes contextualized understanding of concepts,
awareness of biases and experiential gaps, increased critical reflection, and an orientation
toward action for greater educational achievement (Wasonga & Murphy, 2006).
More relevantly, doing an internship at IIEP allowed me to gain direct work experience
through which I was able transform my classroom knowledge into practical techniques and
skills that I could implement in real-life scenarios. Additionally, I was able to develop
transferable skills within this industry that can serve to benefit me in the future. Transferable
skills can be defined as the skills related to the abilities or talents one possesses and that are
relevant to all facets of life, including work life (Lee, 2012). As such, such skills are often
considered to be a crucial factor adding to one’s employability and are said to be called
transferable because it is assumed that such skills can be reapplied when transitioning to a new
situation (Hinrichs, 2014). Correspondingly, in the book, Internships: Theory and Practice,
transferable skills are referred to as “portable skills” because they can be easily transferred from
one situation to another, or from one career to another (Sides & Mrvica, 2017).
Correspondingly, having now completed this internship, I can say with
the internship provided me with an opportunity to learn new skills and concepts beyond
what can be taught in the classroom. That said, I feel that this internship allowed me to improve
on the following transferable skills:
Critical Thinking Skills. As an intern at IIEP, I felt I was able to approach matters
differently as an “outsider” and was often asked my opinion on how to improve processes or how
I would approach them/ They were looking to me for new ideas. Moreover, I felt that this
internship required to think logically through challenging situations and to ask the right
questions when examining a set of possible solutions.
Time Management and Organizational Skills. Although I had some time-management
skills, I have to admit this has never been my strongest suit. During my internship, however, I
had no choice but to be organized and meet my deadlines on a regular basis. Additionally, I was
able to improve my multi-tasking skills and better learn how to prioritize tasks accordingly.
Technological Skills. The field of Education Technology obviously relies heavily on
technology to accomplish their goals and objectives. As a recent graduate in the program, I can
say that my technological skills were fairly good entering my internship, however, I was still
required to brush up on a few, and having to learn new ones, both before and during my
internship.
Job Market Advantage. Internships provide students with a job market advantage as
the practical and applied work experience it offers them can help them to develop their skillset,
which can then serve to improve their overall employability (Kottke, Shultz, & Aamodt, 2020).
That said I feel that my internship with IIEP has given me an edge entering the job
market as it has allowed me to participate in many different types of learning design projects,
some of which I was able to see through almost all of their stages of development. As a result,
my name now appears on several of the courses currently listed on IIEP’s website, providing me
with something tangible to show to prospective employers.
Networking Opportunities. Volmer and Wolff (2018) define networking as being the
behavior with the intended goal aimed at creating and cultivating interpersonal contacts and
relationships. In a professional setting, networking is an important strategy for career
development as it allows one to connect with many different types of individuals in their
professional realm, whilst giving them the opportunity to increase their visibility.
Personally, I felt that the entire internship process presented me with great networking
opportunities. As an intern with IIEP, I was surrounded by industry experts, and by investing
time to forge relationships with them, I was able to expand my professional network. That said,
I feel that I have made several solid connections with the EdTech field, and that these may prove
to be of use to me one of these days.
Gaining Confidence. Both the internship process and the internship itself helped to gain
confidence. At the beginning, I was extremely nervous interviewing with organizations as it had
been a very long time since I last interviewed. Similarly, I was at my previous place of
employment for a very long time, and I was nervous entering a new one. Additionally, it is said
that internships help students to gain confidence as they are presented with the opportunity to
build both their measurable abilities and their soft skill, whether it be through attending
meetings, sharing ideas, giving presentations, or facilitating webinars (Winterton & Turner,
2019). During my time at IIEP, I was often encouraged to share my ideas and the independent
work I produced was usually reviewed by the entire team, allowing to receive a lot of great
feedback. A combination of both of these things allowed me to build confidence by truly
making me I was an asset to the team and the work I was doing for them.
Benefits for Host Organization
In addition to the benefits, I feel I gained during my internship, I don’t feel that these
were completely one-sided. In the new few paragraphs, I will briefly describe the ways in which I
perceive IIEP to have benefited from having me as their inter.
Free labor. The first and most obvious benefit that comes to mind is the fact that this
was an unpaid internship. As an unpaid intern at IIEP, I was able to help them to achieve their
goals and meet their deadlines, at no extra cost.
Extra set of hands. Another obvious advantage of an intern is that they offer an extra
pair of hands to the host-organization. In my case, I helped develop several modules, some on
my own, and was often tasked with doing the less sough-after work, thus giving my colleagues
the opportunity to focus on the more challenging ones.
Fresh perspective. As someone who was not part of the organization, I think I was
often able to provide a different perspective to others. Also, as a new graduate in the field, they
often sought my opinion on current trends or on how certain things might be done.
Areas of Growth
Although I feel that my internship experience was a positive one overall, it was
nonetheless far from being perfect or ideal. That said, I have identified some areas of growth,
to be discussed in the section below.
Major Gaps
The goal of an internship is to provide students with the opportunity to experience the
real world of the workplace prior to graduating. In doing so, internships are thought to be
crucial in bridging the gap between theory from the classroom, and practice from the internship
(Coker, 2020). However, some internships may fail to meet expectations, thus resulting in gaps
in performance. According to the book Performance Consulting: A Strategic Process to Improve,
Measure, and Sustain Organizational Results, performance gaps are basically the difference
between intended and actual performance (Robinson, Robinson, & Phillips, 2015). These gaps,
in turn, may serve to create disappointment and discouragement for all parties involved, but are
also a good way to identify areas of growth (Hou, 2018).
Furthermore, preparation gaps can result from a miscommunication or a misalignment
of the internship goals between the organization, student, and the academic institution
(Korczak & Ziemecka, 2019). Thus, the success of an internship can be said to depend on the
institutional processes of intern and company selection and research in this area can work to
contribute toward developing some strategies to mitigate the gap and define internship best
practices.
Problems Encountered During the Internship
Preparation gaps such as the ones mentioned above can cause problems for both the
intern and the organization alike and can, for obvious reasons, cause understandable confusion
and anxiety for both parties.
This can be manifested in communication problems between the host-organization and
the intern when valued-added contributions such as creativity and motivation are expected by
the intern, and the intern affirms having a high level of motivation but does not know how to
show it (Urquía-Grande, & Estébanez, 2020). Furthermore, this can cause the intern to perceive
their creativity level as being low.
That said, I feel that my personal experience somewhat reflected this. More specifically,
the skills that I was expected to have for this internship were not sufficient and resulted in my
having to spend a lot of my time developing these during the first half of my internship
contract. For this reason, I felt that this hindered my ability to contribute to the projects at hand
in any creative or meaningful ways.
Furthermore, I felt that it took me a very long time to establish meaningful connections
with the people I work with. I feel that this was due to the fact that the internship was held
completely online. Without in-person contact, it’s extremely difficult for interns to establish
strong connections within their work environment and cause them to feel alienated and less
motivated (Steele, Spearman, & Molinder, 2021). I would say this, coupled with the fact that
there was a 6-hour time difference, left me feeling quite detached from the whole process at
times.
Adding to this problem was that I was that I was often left on my own and felt that I was
not being coached or mentored as much as I felt I should me during an internship, by my onsite
supervisor. When I spoke to her my suppervisor about this, she admitted that she had just
started in her role one month prior to my arrival and was ill-prepared to have an intern. This is
inline with a study titled Student internship experiences: learning about the workplace, which
maintains that company supervisors receive little preparation prior to supervising interns and
thus do not know how to provide a mentorship role and have unrealistic expectations as to
what and how much work the intern can do (Zehr & Korte, 2020).
Doing the Project Again…
Although I do not regret my choice of internship, there are some aspects that I would do
differently given the opportunity to do it all over again.
First and foremost, I would ask for more structure. I feel that my internship lacked
structure and by the time I realized it, it was too late. In hindsight, I would make sure to have a
clear delineation of expectations – both for me and the organization. I would have liked to have
more coaching or mentoring throughout, with clear building blocks and regular performance
reviews with feedback. In fact, recent studies on the subject indicate that interns are more likely
to be successful if they have the support of both their academic institution and their industry
mentor (Kramer-Simpson, 2018). Regardless, I feel that my internship experience has increased
my employability, as well as the strength of my professional network.
Chapter 4. Conclusions and Recommendations
As previously mentioned, I felt I learned a lot and make some good connections both in
the graduate program, and during my internship. Regardless, I do feel that the program could
benefit from improvement a few areas, and I will discuss these in a little more detail below.
The Internship Component of the ETEC Program
The ETEC Program
Core vs. Elective Courses
I found the core courses offered in the ETEC program to be very useful, especially
Fundamentals of Instructional Design (ETEC 650), Fundamentals of Human Performance
Technology (ETEC 651) and Learning Theories (ETEC 613), as these were the courses where I
feel I gained a solid theoretical understanding of the fundamentals of this discipline.
However, I feel that students would benefit greatly if the media courses were to also be
added to the core list of courses, or if the core courses could somehow incorporate more media
components into them. Personally, I feel that the media course that I took provided me with the
hands-on experience needed to design a course, and every internship opportunity that I
interviewed with asked me which media tools I was comfortable working with. That said, had I
not taken a media course, I would not have had any experience working with authoring tools,
nor with video editing tools, and I am not sure that the internship opportunities that I
interviewed with would have been offered to me.
In addition to this, I would suggest replacing the Administering Education Technology
Units to Groups (ETEC 671) or Consulting Skills for Education Technologists (ETEC 673) as a
core course with the Evaluation in Education and Training (ETEC 636) as I took all of these, and
the Evaluation course was definitely the most useful as it taught me how to plan and design
evaluations and this proved to be extremely useful during my internship.
Media Courses
Correspondingly, I felt during my internship, that I was expected to have a much higher
level of ease and proficiency using technology. In fact, I was surprised to discover that I was
lacking quite heavily in the technical skills required to adequately fulfill my internship. More
specifically, I was required to create, develop, manipulate, and share learning content using a
variety of different technological tools, and felt that I was ill trained to do so confidently.
Although I had some experience using these, I often felt that I was not able to meet IIEPs
demands and expectations. That said, I think that the program could benefit greatly from
offering a larger selection of media courses, and by incorporating more media/technological
aspects into their core course offerings.
Storyboarding
Although I was asked to create a storyboard in my Fundamentals of Instructional Design
course, I took that course very early on and was never asked to create one again for other
courses. Due to this, I felt that I was very rusty with storyboarding during my internship, and I
found myself wishing that we’d spent more time practicing these during the program.
According to the book eLearning Department of One, storyboarding can really work to help you
save time in the long run, as they require less back-and-forth with your SMEs, proving to be
especially beneficial if your SMEs are difficult to access (Wood, 2019).
That said, I feel that this would have saved me a lot of time as I would have created
these to test my ideas for design and style with the SMEs prior to implementing them. Although
I learned from my mistake very quickly, I think students would benefit from being required to
create these more often. The innovation and creativity required to storyboard make it a practice
that needs to be performed often before one can develop confidence and ease when developing
them (Tool, 2021).
The Internship Component of the ETEC Program
Although I found the internship component of the ETEC Program to be quite good and
well organized, I feel that the program could benefit from paying more attention to detail,
especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although I can only speak for myself, I mention the pandemic because I feel that the
major way this internship did not meet my expectations resulted from the significant time zone
difference between myself and my host organization, and the subsequent lack of mentorship I
felt I received, which only served to add another layer of isolation to my remote work. For
myself, this was not something I had considered too heavily at the time but looking back and
realizing how important the role of mentorship is during this process, I wish it was something
that the ETEC program would have considered, and mentioned to me, prior to moving forward
with it.
That said, I think I may have spotted a red flag had I been more informed of what to
expect from an internship and its breadth of potential advantages. With this in mind, I think it
could be beneficial to ask students to fill a survey both at the beginning and at the end of their
internship, asking them to rate the benefits they feel they may acquire/have acquired from their
internship. A survey such as this could be of dual benefit: a manoeuvre to raise student
awareness of the potential benefits of internship experience, and as a self-evaluation tool to
evaluate their achievements in the learning outcomes at the end of their internship (Nghia &
Duyen, 2018).
Additionally, I think it could be beneficial to educate students on what to expect prior to
entering their internship, as well as on their rights, moving forward with said internship. The
reason I mention this, is due to the fact that my on-site supervisor barely had time to meet with
me twice a week, let alone mentor me. Once we had become closer (during the last month of
my internship when I visited Paris), she admitted to me that she was forced to take an intern
despite voicing her misgivings on the matter to her superior, which mainly centered on her
being a new employee herself and knowing she would not be able to adequately do the job. Due
to these circumstances, I spent a large majority of my time being left to my own devices and
feeling unsure of what was expected of me. In hindsight, I think I would have perhaps
attempted to shorten it, had I known that it was not a normal internship situation.
Despite these setbacks, I did feel that I was able to make the most out of my internship
experience, and for the most part, and can say that I had a positive experience at IIEP, UNESCO.
I felt that I learnt a lot as I was given the opportunity to work on many different projects and
see through most of them from beginning to end.
Moreover, I was very impressed with the administrative support I received during my
transition from student to intern, most notably from Rosa Cerone, who was instrumental in
helping me to prepare for interviews and stay ahead of my deadlines.

The Host Organization
As previously mentioned, I felt that the host organization was ill-prepared to have an
intern. My on-site supervisor, Ioanna Kosteridou, had only joined the team a month prior to my
arrival, and was not in a position to act as a mentor. That said, she admitted to me at the end of
my internship, that she had insisted on numerous occasions that she did not feel that she could
adequately support an intern at that time. I was disappointed to learn this, for many reasons,
but mostly due to the fact that I knew then that this was the reason for the majority of the
problems I encountered during the course of my internship at IIEP, UNESCO. That said, I would
probably advise students against choosing to do their internship with this organization.
Future Internship Students
Applying to Internships
I would highly recommend that students apply to as many internships that interest
them, as possible. Not only does this produce more options to eventually choose from, but also
provides a lot of interview practice – an invaluable skill! Moreover, interviews present you with
an opportunity to meet new people within the field and can thus potentially increase your
network of contacts.
Choose Wisely
What I would recommend to future internship students is that they take the time to
really think about what they want and where they want to end up in their careers. This is
important as the education technology field is vast and diverse, and the internship can serve to
serve to either pave the way for where they want to go, or box them onto a path that they don’t
want to be on.
That said, I think it is important for students to understand that their internship choice
is likely to shape the direction of their future career path, and they should choose one with this
in mind. Personally, I chose an unpaid internship against everyone’s advice. While I don’t regret
it, this is only because I had my heart and soul set on working within the non-profit sector and
it allowed me to gain some insight into what working for this sector is like.
Additionally, I feel that it is equally important to choose an internship opportunity that
provides more comprehensive experience in terms of the tasks and projects students will be
working on. This is especially true if they are unsure of where they would like to end up.
Ask Questions
Another piece of advice I would offer to future students is to take advantage of
the internship process as being an opportunity to learn and gain experience. That said, I would
encourage students to ask as many questions as possible, in effort of maximizing their learning
experience.
Professional Development
Although focusing on professional development is important in any field, I believe this
to be especially important in this one due to its focus on technology, which is constantly
evolving. I would recommend that students be mindful f this and try to stay on top of trends. In
the book eLearning Department of One, Emily Wood suggests continuously consulting free
online resources such as webcasts, webinars, online communities, template ideas, and how-to
videos to help in creating powerful e-learning that cam affect behavioral changes on the job
(Wood, 2019).
Network, network, network!

This may be the last point in this section, however, to me, it’s the most important one. I
cannot place enough stress on the value networking and how much it has impacted my
professional life to date. Having a professional network can be one of the best and easiest ways
to find new job opportunities and stay relevant in any field.
Final Words
Overall, I am quite pleased with my decision to pursue master’s in Education Technology
at Concordia University. Although the program did present a few drawbacks, as mentioned
throughout this report, I feel that its benefits outweigh its drawbacks quite significantly. I am
also extremely grateful for the connections I acquired during my time in the program and feel
that I am entering the field with a solid network of people and resources for which to rely on. I
would definitely recommend this program to a friend wishing to pursue a career in this field.
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INTERNSHIP DIGITAL LEARNING & LEARNING DESIGN 1

IIEP UNESCO, TRAINING UNIT

Internship in Digital Learning & Learning Design

IIEP, UNESCO, Training Unit

Sonny Jane Nash

Internship Supervisor: Dr. Steven Shaw

Internship Coordinator: Rosa Cerone

.................................................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.2

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................46

DESCRIPTION OF THE HOST ORGANIZATION ..................................................................................... 46

CONTRACTING PROCESS ............................................................................................................. 57

INTERNSHIP OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE ............................................................................................... 58

BACKGROUND RESEARCH ............................................................................................................ 68

CHAPTER 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE MAIN PROJECTS ....................................................................... 1015

CHAPTER 3. REFLECTIONS ON THE INTERNSHIP PROCESS ........................................................... 2532

CHAPTER 4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................. 3138

THE ETEC PROGRAM ............................................................................................................. 3238

Core vs. Elective Courses .............................................................................................. 3238

Storyboarding ............................................................................................................... 3339

THE INTERNSHIP COMPONENT OF THE ETEC PROGRAM .................................................................. 3339

THE HOST ORGANIZATION ...................................................................................................... 3540

FUTURE INTERNSHIP STUDENTS ................................................................................................. 3540

Applying to Internships ................................................................................................. 3540

Choose Wisely ............................................................................................................... 3541

Ask Questions ............................................................................................................... 3642

Adopt a growth mindset ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.42

Get Involved ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.42

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................. 3643

FINAL WORDS....................................................................................................................... 3644

minute project needs, attending webinars, facilitating coaching/information sessions, etc.

In addition to this, I participated in three major projects:

how to use videos for learning using RISE.

RISE and redesigning some of the PowerPoint presentations.

digital skills of the IIEP teaching staff.

Description of the Host Organization

In doing so, IIEP develops sustainable educational capacity through:

• Technical assistance to ministries of education and other institutions

functions and responsibilities which are outlined below.

The IIEP Training Unit (TEP)

approximately 30 employees, and specialized in the development in of advanced training

programmes, education sector planning, specialized and online courses.

The Virtual Campus Team (CVI)

online learning communities.

about my motivations for choosing this particular internship.

Internship Objectives and Scope

the internship proposal.

• Explore the latest trends in digital learning

development of digital skills needed for online teaching

enhance the digital skills of the IIEP teaching staff

• Practice Design Thinking principles and methodologies

• Work with authoring tools in creating digital content

• Contribute and collaborate with team members

inform my decisions on how to undertake the above-mentioned projects and activities.

As with any other prospective place of employment, I wanted to obtain as much

information about the organization as possible, before I started the interenshiprehand. I

websites to gather my information for the organizational research:

I researched the organization by first looking at IIEP’s official website (IIEP-UNESCO |

culture of the organization.

United Nations Public Documents

it had a section denoted to post and staff classifications.

other employee benefits.

News Headlines & and Social Media

by analyzing companies on their own.