Experiential Education and Lynda.com
By Anna Augusto Rodrigues
Experiential learning opportunities, such as internships and field placements, give students a chance to apply what they have learned in the classroom in a real-world setting. As these types of experiential education initiatives become more commonplace at universities, so do course outcomes based on professional work competencies. Faculty preparing students for internships and field placements may want to consider integrating Lynda.com in their courses.
Lynda.com is an online library of instructional videos that are free to use by York University faculty and students. To access Lynda.com, use this link to login with your Passport York login. The page also has information on how to download the app which might be useful for students who want to view the content on their mobile devices. If you are new to Lynda.com you can watch videos in the course How to use Lynda.com to assist with finding content for your courses.
There are several video courses in the Lynda.com library on career preparedness which can be easily embedded in pre-internship or pre-placement courses. For example, the Job Search Strategies course covers the latest techniques to finding a job that include exploring options with unadvertised positions and building up professional networks.
Preparing students for job interviews is an integral piece in career preparedness. Lynda.com has a course dedicated to mastering what will most likely be the most nerve-wracking aspect of securing an internship or job. Included in the course Interview Master Class are tips on how to ask the interviewer thoughtful questions and how to best prepare for a phone or video interview.
The course Learning LinkedIn for Students will assist students with not only creating an effective LinkedIn page but also with networking skills and personal branding. To further expand on the topic of presenting oneself online, students can take the course Personal Branding on Social Media which covers how to use Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to develop a strong personal brand.
Keep in mind that career preparedness is also about what happens after the internship has been found. Lynda.com has courses that will help students be successful while completing their internships or field placements while also assisting with securing a position in the field of their choice.
The course Interpersonal Communication helps students with communicating effectively with colleagues and managers at a place of work. For example, videos in this course look at how to interpret nonverbal cues, how to ask managers the right questions and how to respond to critical feedback.
For students who will be creating presentations while on internship, the course Master Confident Presentations will assist with not only developing confidence but also writing effective openers and managing time while presenting.
As well, students may be interested in learning strategies on how to land a full-time position at the place they are completing their internships. The course Turning an Internship into a Job does just that with helpful tips on how to build professional relationships and how to negotiate a full-time position.
Lynda.com also has short videos from professionals who share advice that is both inspirational and practical for those looking to land an internship or start a career. The series, called Career Advice from Some of the Biggest Names in Business, has videos from professionals from a variety of backgrounds, including business, entertainment, law and politics. Videos include advice from Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Wyclef Jean and Maria Bartiromo.
If you are looking at integrating Lynda.com content into your teaching practice on a regular basis, watch the course Teaching with Lynda.com for tips on how to do this effectively. This course also has a video on how to create a playlist (which allows instructors to customize Lynda.com courses for students) and instructions on how to add Lynda.com videos to Moodle.
About the author
Anna Augusto Rodrigues is an instructional designer in the Teaching Commons. She has a PhD in Education – Language, Culture and Teaching, from York University. Her research interests include exploring inclusive educational practices, language and literacy, informal adult education and issues of diversity in education. Anna also has a background in media having worked in the print and broadcast industry for almost two decades. She taught at an Ontario college for twelve years and during that time developed, designed and delivered a variety of courses for three different programs. She has also been involved in various educational projects in the past ten years which include indigenizing curricula in a college program, looking at barriers to pathway completion between colleges and universities and co-developing and teaching an international field course on social justice that was taught to Canadian students in Brazil.