Abstract

TORRE CHALBAUD, Fernando. MANAGEMENT MODEL FOR MENTORING INDUSTRIAL INTERNSHIPS USING ICT. Rev. Fac. Ing. UCV [online]. 2012, vol.27, n.4, pp.25-32. ISSN 0798-4065.

The paper presented herein describes the methodology developed, and the results obtained, in the academic mentorship performed for national and international internships of the students of Production Engineering from Simon Bolivar University ends of testing new strategies to carry out industrial internships, concentrating efforts in the activities that add value and, at the same time, reduce or eliminate the time wasted by professors and students- thus incrementing productivity and concentrating on tangible results. The methods practiced using ICT ensure a proper follow-up, as well as the academic excellence and quality that define the University’s programs. The tools include videoconferencing, e-mail, digital documents, electronic bibliographical and periodical resources, satellite maps, scheduling tools and time conversion. The model described in this paper has proven to be effective for mentorships with dozens of simultaneous interns in the national scene and with international internships in high-tech industries in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania. Among the results is a profound mentor-student communication, continuous assessment, elimination of activities that do not add value, and a more effective use of time - which has redounded in substantial increases in productivity for the professor and the students. Finally, the paper concludes with the model’s effectiveness to increase the performance and reach of the professors and students in internship activities around the world, achieving the reduction or elimination of superfluous activities, thus allowing them to concentrate on the backbone activities that contribute quality to the final product

Keywords : Industrial internships; Teacher productivity; Technologies applied to teaching; ICT; Distance tutoring.