It's a photo of Jordan! He sits facing from right to left. His head is tilted slightly to the viewers right and he has a small smile. In the top left in gold on blue is the Logical Developments logo, which is a diamond with the letters L and D inside of it. The letters are offset from each other vertically while also overlapping horizontally. The each sit inside of their own rectangle. In the bottom left is the title, Workplace Integrated Learning: An ECU student’s perspective, and in the bottom right is the Edith Cowan University logo. The primary part of the logo is a blue rectangle with the letters E, C and U written in uppercase. The E and C are in white, while the U is yellow. Underneath the blue rectangle is a white rectangle with the words Edith Cowan written in white. To the right of the blue rectangle, spanning entire height of the logo is the word "university" written in white in a red rectangle. Across the very top of the logo and spanning the entire width is are two rectangles, a red one and yellow one. Inside the red rectangle is the word "Australia".

Workplace Integrated Learning: An ECU student’s perspective

Jordan Bock - Oct 20, 2020

During the last 12 weeks I have been working at Logical developments as part of the Work Integrated Learning (WIL) program at ECU. During that time I have worked on fixing software, converting software and creating a new project. 

 My overall feeling about this experience is accomplishment. I also feel shocked and surprised. I have completed three major tasks during my placement, which has caused my feeling of accomplishment. Even so, I find that I am surprised that I am already at the end of my placement and it’s shocking to realise that I have completed 12 weeks of work.

The things that went well during my placement, was that I was given support when I needed it. Unlike many other businesses I was able to approach anyone for help instead of only being able to ask my peers and sometimes a supervisor. Another thing that went well is that my supervisor gave suggestions for tools to use and ways to complete my task. What didn’t go well was the journey to and from work. The trip would take roughly 30 minutes on a good day or anywhere from fifty minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes in bad traffic. 

Being able to approach anyone for help during my placement allowed me to be able to ask for help at any stage instead of having to wait for specific people to be free. This was good as I could better engaged and make progress on my work when I was struggling, instead of having to metaphorically raise my hand and wait for attention.  The journey was an issue during my placement, as I had to leave home around 7am. I take medication and so I have to wake up at 6am to have enough time to get ready for work. Even with an hour to prepare I still run up to 20 minutes late sometimes. When I finally get the in the car and start driving to work I find the traffic is generally slow as everyone else is going to work. While this now is normal and doesn’t bother me, originally it did and was a big issue.

I have learned quite a lot during my placement. This ranges from new languages to new practices. I have learned more patience while driving and experience what it is like to work in a full time environment.

In the future I hope to keep working at Logical Developments. I will keep striving to do my best and ask the approachable co-workers for help when I need it. I will also try to negotiate to see if I can work different hours. While I enjoy and value working, I also value my free time.