Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Experiential Learning: Development of a Community-Grounded Online Internship Program

Abstract

After spreading quickly around the world and causing the declaration of a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, COVID-19 has also forced educational institutions into lockdown around the world. They had to continue their activities through distance learning and online courses to cope with this pandemic outbreak. One of the areas of higher education that was most affected by this unexpected situation was internship programs, and alternative ways began to be sought instead of face-to-face internships. The aim of this study is to introduce the first online internship program developed in lieu of an in-person internship program as a response to nationwide lockdowns due to the pandemic. The program was conducted between June 29 and July 24, 2020, via the Zoom platform and designed in five modules, with the detailed content information provided under each module. A total of 21 sessions were held, and 32 library and archive specialists contributed to the program. The study also provides information on the results of a survey applied to 61 students at the end of the program. The analysis of the survey results demonstrates that the majority of the interns who participated in the program preferred to have a face-to-face internship. But also, they explained that this program was a valuable contribution to their theoretical learning as it was run by professionals from different information organizations. Also, the sustainability of the program is reviewed by taking into account its advantages and disadvantages. Overall, this study provides an international perspective on an alternative model of internship programs which supports theoretical education in the library and information science field.