Authors
Wanli Ma, Gregory Boland, Diane Phillips
Publication date
2010/9/29
Conference
2010 Australian Collaborative Education Network National Conference
Pages
262-270
Publisher
Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) Incorporated
Description
The Faculty of Information Sciences and Engineering (ISE), University of Canberra, has long been involved with WIL programs. The Faculty previously relied on Federal Government agencies and large IT companies for placements, where IT professionals mentored our student interns on both generic and technical skills. Several problems were encountered with this approach, including a limited number of intern placements, the unwillingness of some institutions to take on students, and the restriction of international students being accepted by these institutions. However, if we view WIL as a conduit assisting the learning outcomes for our students and simultaneously fulfilling a community need for IT skills then a somewhat different scenario arises. On the one hand, the Canberra community, especially charity and non-profit organizations place a huge emphasis and rely on IT skills for their successful operations even though their core business may not be IT oriented. On the other hand, our students have developed the required IT skills and are keen to practice their skills in real world environments. To satisfy all these stakeholders, ISE has recently expanded its WIL programs into these non-profit organizations. This arrangement has been very well received by the organizations involved, the university, and the students. Expanding IT WIL programs into non-IT organisations benefits both our students and the Canberra community. It opens a whole new world of abundant WIL placements. More importantly, charity and non-profit organizations have no visa or citizenship restrictions and this provides great opportunities for our international students …
Scholar articles
W Ma, G Boland, D Phillips - 2010 Australian Collaborative Education Network …, 2010