Mediated Learning Newsletter

Vol. 6, Issue 3: December 2006, page 2

Toastmasters to Improve Communication and Teaching

Mary Kamensky ,
Graduate School

The Graduate School , American Indian Student Services, Foreign Student Scholar Services and the Missoula area Toastmasters organization have formed a Toastmasters group on campus for graduate students and UM staff.

Toastmasters International is a non-profi t organization established in 1924 with the idea of helping people to speak more effectively. The organization currently has 211,000 members in 10,500 clubs in 90 different countries.

The Toastmasters program exposes each participant to a wide range of communication and leadership experiences. It uses time-tested programs that allow members to progress as rapidly or as gradually as they desire. The Toastmasters program provides the tools that enable people to become effective communicators and leaders. More than three million men and women of all ages and occupations have benefi ted from Toastmasters training, and more than one thousand corporations, community groups, universities, associations, and government agencies now use Toastmasters training.

Some educational institutions that currently have Toastmaster groups are: Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Texas A&M, UCLA Graduate School of Management, University of Washington, Simon Fraser, Thunderbird and Wake Forest University Graduate students and staff will be able to develop the following skills through the Toastmasters program:

• Improved presentation skills
• Improved interview skills
• Increased ability to motivate and persuade
• Leadership skills – members build leadership skills by organizing and conducting meetings and motivating others to help them.

Members of local Toastmasters groups put on a demonstration meeting at the School of Business in October, 2006. The fi rst meeting of the campus Toastmasters was held on November 1 in the Alumni Board Room in the University Center . Meetings are now scheduled in the Alumni Board Room every Wednesday from noon until 1:00 p.m. until the end of spring semester 2007.

The response from the campus has been very positive with 25 students and staff members attending meetings. The UM group has attracted a diverse group of graduate students from other disciplines and cultures and who are enjoying the opportunity to interact with other students.

Experienced Toastmasters from the Missoula area are volunteering their time to work with the new group. They are providing invaluable mentoring to the UM students and staff members who are working on their speaking skills.

For further information on the campus Toastmasters group, call Mary Kamensky in the Graduate School at 406.243.4598 /mary.kamensky@umontana.edu or Barb Seekins in the Foreign Student Scholar Office at 406.243.6183/ seekinsbh@mso.umt.edu. More information on the Toastmasters organization is available on their web site at www.toastmasters.org.

Using Blackboard to Evaluate Internships

Jennifer Hepner and Governor Brian Schweiter

Effectively monitoring and evaluating student internships can be a challenge. Contact with students is often limited since many faculty do not have the opportunity to make site visits. Recently, some higher education professionals have used Blackboard, a webbased software program, to monitor internships more effectively. Blackboard allows Blackboard allows students and faculty to communicate via on-line discussion boards. Faculty have the ability to post course materials such as the syllabus, calendar, and assignments on Blackboard. Students have an ability to submit their responses to assignments, read other interns’ responses, and dialogue with other interns and their faculty supervisor. As an example, Brigham Young University is currently using Blackboard in conjunction with internships. At the beginning of each week, students are required to login to Blackboard, access their assignments, and by Wednesday have a response submitted. Each intern is then required to read other interns’ responses to the assignment, and respond to three other interns by Saturday. Other institutions have found Blackboard to be helpful. Marcia Welch, an instructor in Business Information Technology, from Highline Community College in Des Moines, WA comments, “The students seem to really enjoy this aspect (Blackboard) and it provides them a chance to freely develop and discuss work place issues in a safe environment with one another.” Many of faculty on The University of Montana campus have used Blackboard in classes, and we are interested in hearing your thoughts about using this application in conjunction with internships. For more information, and/or comments, please contact Kevin Hood at the following Kevin.hood@umontana.edu. If there is interest, a short seminar on this topic will be organized in the near future.