SINGAPORE - Students may feel lost during internships, but for some at Republic Polytechnic, they can turn to an "internship buddy" that comes in the form of a mobile app.
Called "myInternshipBuddy@WORK" or "MIB@WORK" for short, the app is a one-stop platform for students on internship to access learning materials, workplace guidelines and protocols as well as upload weekly reflections.
Currently in its pilot phase, the app is used by about 480 third-year students from Republic Poly's School of Infocomm, whose internships started in September 2015.
The app was unveiled on Friday (Jan 8) at Republic Poly's Open House 2016 as part of its efforts to better prepare students for their transition to the workforce.
MIB@WORK has four key parts: a pre-internship resource section, customised learning materials pushed to students to facilitate learning-on-the-job, a weekly log for students to write about their experience, and a quiz function to assess students' understanding of the learning content.
Mr Lau Ze Yeung Andrew, 25, a third-year student at Republic Poly's School of Infocomm who is doing an internship at Rolls-Royce, said: "In the past, weekly logs had to be completed physically. Now with the app, it's more convenient than paper documents."
"It also allows me to prepare myself for the actual internship. Before I started, there were questions to do to understand the procedures of my internship, so I'll be able to expect what is in it for me," he added.
Employers will also be able to gain access to the app to prepare the students before internship.
Ms May Wee, chief human resource officer at Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS) - one of the companies that have tried the app - said it will be downloading e-learning materials into the MIB@WORK app and plans to include videos and quizzes.
"It will ease the assimilation of the students. Before they come in, they will be able to manoeuvre their way around rather than wait for the first day of work to be briefed," she said.
