Education: Internship, Reading, and Taking Courses

Introduction

An educational experience is the activity of learning and can be in broad ways. They include taking courses, interacting with people, taking programs, reading, listening to lectures, and completing assignments and internships. The process focuses on authenticity, collaboration, and interaction to enable the learners further their knowledge and retain it. This venture is carried out to promote the recipients to evaluate themselves, add value, and sometimes give social-interaction ability to them. These experiences achieve this by triggering questions on those taking part and raising their curiosity on issues they would not know. It is usually a way of reflecting on the subjects and goals of a certain study continuously and dynamically. Generally, pursuing education imparts people with different experiences such as reading that make it easier to properly understand various written texts effectively.

Internship as an Educational Experience

A scenario of an educational experience is taking part in an internship. This refers to a moment given to a learner or employee to acquire the necessary skills for work. It is whereby one is given the opportunity to be in the working environment and assigned tasks to meet a company’s goals and objectives. The field of deployment should, in one way or another, relate to the student’s discipline in a course or learning process. They can be taken voluntarily or paid depending on the parties’ willingness, which is the supervisor and the intern. A good agreement should be reached before the commencement of the program. This is done to avoid conflicts that could arise because one has worked and may expect a retainer.

Internships may take a long or short period, depending entirely on the fact that some fields of study may require more profound experiences than others. This process is conducted in different disciplines based on the learner’s course of study. It can be in Sales and Marketing, Information Technology, Education, Engineering, Graphic Design, Accounting, Finance, Auditing, Human Resource Management, and even Supply Chain Management.

An intern has benefited from gaining skills that help them understand the theoretical part they cover in their course of learning by doing it practically. Trainees can be personally effective in the conduct of their studies. Managing time effectively to complete tasks in tight schedules is an important quality they gain (Mele et al., 2021). Arrivals in the workplace and reporting to the assigned supervisors can impact vital knowledge in terms of following protocol.

Interns get the much-needed communication skills that help them understand people better. Probationers make understanding better for their lives professionally and throughout their careers. This helps them avoid compromises and be assertive and confident in performing their tasks. These qualities may be written, verbal, non-verbal, or even visual, depending on the activities done in their jobs. Poor transmission ability is synonymous with causing mental stress, which is easily evaded by those acquiring the proficiency.

Internships often cause the creation of jobs for graduates who may fail to be directly employed by organizations after completing their studies. Employers cannot be convinced to permanently hire a tutee from a college or university and give them the duties of an experienced person (Brady and Gilligan, 2018). Traineeship, therefore, acts as a bridge for the learners to cross from the state of being a student to being an employee earning a salary.

Contrary to the good qualities internship offers to interns, there are critics directed at the whole program. In an internship program, employees who are employed permanently tend to take advantage of those coming to gain knowledge in their institution. They often give them jobs unrelated to their course (Stedman, McGeary, and Essery, 2018). This is a waste of time as they do things that do not build new skills that are needed for their experience at work.

During internships, companies abuse the act of getting many interns giving them poor payments. This is unethical as it is common for the same individuals to be assigned work under tight schedules and supervision. This demoralizes many people working for certain companies and instils the thought that a working environment is always hostile. However, it is clear from the above advantages and disadvantages that taking internship programs is beneficial for a learner as part of an educational experience.

Reading

Reading is a wide aspect that entails recognizing words that are handwritten, printed, or in softcopy mode. It involves fluency, comprehension, and even motivation. Sometimes meaning can be obtained without even identification of all the words. Books are written by different authors with specific intentions for the reader. In ancient times, people used this activity as a way of keeping records and passing information. Scrolls and scribes were used for this purpose, while in the modern world, these activities are conducted through online books, newsfeeds, social media posts, and even text messages. This is regarded as arguably the most effective way of an educational experience.

In most cases, reading may be done in many ways and for different objectives that are helpful to the reader. It has several advantages, and one of the most important values of this aspect is that it imparts knowledge. Books give information in-depth, unlike watching videos of the same (Goding, Hartwell, and Kreppner, 2022). Roald Dahl, a writer of a book, once said, “If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books.” The data stored in books can be taught in learning institutions for long periods.

Generally, reading as an experience of learning enables the reader to exercise their brain. It stimulates and sends signals to the brain, making it stronger and more sophisticated. It allows someone to increase the ability to concentrate for long periods, which is a good value for the brain. Good readers usually can learn complicated things and comprehend how to solve them in a manner different from non-readers.

Engaging in reading activities gives the reader the capacity to improve their memory. This is because someone consumes a large volume of info they read on. Books like novels contain great plots of stories, and the learner is intended to grasp all the storylines and be able to memorize them during the whole process (Kim, 2020). They could include the characters involved, their interactions with others, and even the place in which the story is developed.

Reading is a source of entertainment besides the fact that it could a source of knowledge. It captures the mind of the reader in such a way that the reader is unable to pause and get away from the imaginative world. Provided that the learner is using the suitable material, it is fascinating to get the intended purposes of the author (Sekhsaria and Pronin, 2021). Materials that have this kind of attachment are a clear indication of communication between the writer and the audience.

Criticism has been directed at the reading culture in several ways in the past and present. One of the disadvantages of engaging in this educational experience is that it affects some readers to the extent of following immoral behaviours. Exposure to some content for underage people is harmful to them and how they conduct their lives. Mannerisms of drinking alcohol and premarital sex are a significant concern among readers who are not guided in the right way.

Reading is often associated with giving readers a drained and lazy habit in their daily activities. The habit of sitting and getting attached literally to words that are written makes those involved drained and slow. It makes them tired both physically and mentally, especially if they overdo it. This example of educational experience has a huge impact on today’s learning as it is available and easy to be attained. It is good when done in the right way and can have a big influence on the lives of learners.

Taking a Course

A course can be described as a series of classes or lessons about a specific subject, which can be broad and lead to an evaluation, and later a qualification is awarded. A learner can then identify the category to which they belong. This is the first step of taking the track on which their career will be based. There are several methods of conducting a study and getting the needed skills. Many ways are electronic and are conducted via the internet, although there are physical manual ways of attending classes and completing them. There are advantages to undergoing this kind of educational experience and also disadvantages.

Taking a course can boost skills and develop an individual professionally. Courses enable learners to focus on a specific area of study and equip themselves to solve particular problems. The ones who complete a program on different courses are awarded a certificate of completion that is included in their Curriculum Vitae or portfolio. This helps develop them professionally and can handle tasks that are required in their employment.

Some courses are offered in a short and modified manner to suit the learner’s needs and availability. A good example is a way in which people have the chance to take study online. It becomes flexible for the trainee to get a good moment to take training at their own pace (Hedges, 2019). They have the opportunity to access the learning material easily in places of their own choice.

Courses act as a way of creating job opportunities in a market that may be flooded with unemployment. Finding jobs, especially in the current economic crisis, proves difficult. It is way better to undertake a study and be able to create self-employment. Individuals who take a particular course are sure of getting a means of earning a living to cater to their needs. Some people take these programs to be promoted in their working ranks. It is also a way to increase their payments due to the added skills in a specific area.

It adds problem-solving skills and enhances the critical thinking of the learner. A course enables the learner to gain logic in dealing with issues affecting their lives. It could be in their workplaces and in the society where they can enlighten others. Their decisions are sound and well-thought in determining outcomes and productivity in the economy (Townsend et al., 2020). Common issues are easily dealt with due to the higher logic in handling situations.

On the contrary, taking courses as a means of educational experience has its critics. One of the disadvantages of engaging in such is that it is expensive. Fees demanded by institutions offering this kind of knowledge are higher than most people can afford. Most people end up borrowing loans to be able to pay for studies and may fail to get well-paying jobs to repay their lenders. Some education systems need a lot of active involvement and make their learners spend a lot of time in their lives trying to grasp the needed knowledge that some institutions fail to give effectively.

Some courses are irrelevant, and so is the knowledge they impart to learners. Most people choose studies in regards to their corresponding jobs and their payments. No one would be willing to take a course where the job they will get will pay poorly. The fact that some things taught in colleges and universities are not applicable in life situations makes the whole process cumbersome (Guerrero, Heaton, and Urbano, 2021). Engaging in this educational experience can be a life-changer since the outcomes, which are qualification, enables people to work in well-paid jobs.

Conclusion

In summary, educational experiences range in many forms and are suitable for life and increase the productivity of a country. Learned people can bring ideas together and bring innovation and problem-solving skills. They include internships programs, reading different written materials, and pursuing a course. They act as a way of self-empowerment and boost the self-esteem of those involved. One has the freedom to choose a form of experiencing and conveniently gaining information. Although the methods discussed above may differ, whatever outcome they give is essential.

Reference List

Brady, E. and Gilligan, R. (2018) ‘The life course perspective: an integrative research paradigm for examining the educational experiences of adult care leavers?’ Children and Youth Services Review, 87, pp.69-77. Web.

Goding, N., Hartwell, B. and Kreppner, J. (2022) ‘“Everyone has the ability actually to do well in education. It’s just the support mechanisms that you give to them…”: A systematic literature review exploring the educational experiences of children in care,’ Children and Youth Services Review, p.106474. Web.

Guerrero, M., Heaton, S. and Urbano, D. (2021) ‘Building universities’ intrapreneurial capabilities in the digital era: The role and impacts of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs),’ Technovation, 99, p.102139. Web.

Hedges, H. (2019) ‘The “fullness of life”: Learner interests and educational experiences,’ Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 23, p.100258. Web.

Kim, Y.S.G. (2020) ‘Toward integrative reading science: the direct and indirect effects model of reading,’ Journal of Learning Disabilities, 53(6), pp.469-491. Web.

Mele, E., Español, A., Carvalho, B. and Marsico, G. (2021) ‘Beyond technical learning: internship as a liminal zone on the way to become a psychologist,’ Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 28, p.100487. Web.

Sekhsaria, S. and Pronin, E. (2021) Underappreciated benefits of reading own and others’ memories,’ Social Cognition, 39(4), pp.504-525. Web.

Stedman, J.M., McGeary, C.A. and Essery, J. (2018) ‘Current patterns of training in personality assessment during internship,’ Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74(3), pp.398-406. Web.

Townsend, I.M., Berger, E.P. and Reupert, A.E. (2020) ‘Systematic review of the educational experiences of children in care: children’s perspectives,’ Children and Youth Services Review, 111, p.104835. Web.