STEM Teaching Online Course Review

I felt really valued by the charity, they made a lot of effort to keep in contact when it appeared that covid could interfere with the internship. They could have cancelled the internship completely but instead put in a lot of effort to create an online course to replace it. They were always happy to answer any questions that we had and would try to get back to you as a soon as possible with a thorough answer.

I believe the skills I developed and information I received will assist me greatly in my degree studies and beyond. Before the online course started we were given work to complete before hand which taught me a lot about the theory of teaching and prepared me for the course. During the online course they built on this information and were able to expand on this new information further. Not only did I learn a lot about teaching, but also through different activities I developed different skills which will help me with my studies and will be beneficial for any future career, not just teaching.

The virtual experience was really well structured throughout. They delivered all the information in small sections, with lots of different speakers. They also had breaks and activities in smaller groups incorporated throughout the day to split it up. This structure was really beneficial for a virtual experience because listening and interacting all over zoom can be exhausting. Each day was also structured different which kept thing interesting and helped keep me focused and motivated for each day.

There was a really good atmosphere throughout the virtual experience, I always felt really comfortable to take part in activities and to also ask any questions if I was confused. They organised multiple social activities and also had learning activities in smaller groups, both of which helped me get to know the people taking part and therefore helped create a friendly and social atmosphere. The facilitators were really encouraging and always gave us a lot of support.

The charity invested a lot into us, it was really clear they cared about this program as they put a lot effort into creating a new online course instead of the normal internship. They really emphasised how they wanted us to develop new skills and strengthen existing ones, and they made sure to provide opportunities to do this. They also included time for feedback after activities which was really beneficial and helped me learn a lot.

The virtual experience allowed me to learn a lot about their teaching training course. The virtual experience was a good taster of what we would be learning and what to expect. There was opportunity to hear from people who were completing the course now or had completed the course in the past. We were also then given an opportunity to ask any questions we had, which was really helpful and showed a really clear picture of the reality of the training course.

The content was really valuable when helping me decide my future career path. I learn a lot about of what the job as a teacher includes and what I can expect in day to day life. It helped confirm to me that this is what I wanted to do, but also helped me see that if I wanted to change career path in the future I could, as teaching helps you develop a lot of really useful, transferable skills.

We were originally supposed to be paid for taking part in the internship, additionally with any travel and accommodation costs reimbursed. However, with the internship changing into an online course, we were then no longer paid. I understand this decision as we were completing the course from our home. However, taking part in this course did still require our time and meant we could not work during this time and therefore did up costing money.

There were multiple opportunities to network and also good social events to get to know people. There was a quiz at the end of the first day, in which we were split into smaller groups which really helped me get to know others. Also all the learning activities were done in smaller groups too which also helped me get to know a range of different people. The second day we also presented teaching episodes with a small group, we were in this group for most of the day which helped me get to know the people in this group particularly well.

Yes I would recommend this virtual experience to a friend, however, I would tell them to be mindful that it is not a paid experience. It does focus a lot on teaching and also the charity's mission statement, so I would say it benefits those interested in teaching the most. However, you do get the opportunity to develop a lot of skills that would be attractive to a lot of different firms in different fields.