Intern Forums provide a way for registered Academy members to exchange ideas, post questions, ask for help from peers and mentors, and offer assistance to others. The Intern Forums are set up to coincide with the three main Phases of an Academy session.  The three Intern Forums for the Academy are linked below:

• Phase 1: Set Your Drupal Performance Goals
• Phase 2: Share Your Progress Toward Your Goals
• Phase 3: Reflect Upon and Recap Your Achievements 

Most Drupal users agree that the best way to improve performance when installing, administering or customizing a Drupal site is to do it! While many Interns already have a Drupal site up and running, most novice Drupal users do not. Unfortunately, one of the many obstacles preventing novice users from developing a Drupal based web site is a lack of expertise in setting up a web site with a web host. Therefore, the Academy offers access to a temporary site (or “sandbox”) on the WorldBridges network to provide a safe training ground for Interns to set up and maintain an initial Drupal installation. If you would like access to a temporary sandbox, please note this request when you register as an Intern.

Live web casts are a hallmark of the WorldBridges network and are used to facilitate ongoing Academy sessions. The weekly live web casts scheduled on the Events Calendar at the Academy allow Interns to see and hear about how to use Drupal features and to share their Drupal discoveries with others. The web cast tools are free, reliable and accessible to both Mac and Windows users. The web cast tools include:

• Skypecasts – see https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/home
• WebHuddle for screen sharing – see https://www.webhuddle.com
• Text based chat via the existing chat module on the Academy web site – see http://cmsacademy.net/drupal/chat

A Drupal mentor is assigned to each Intern at the start of an Academy session. The role of the mentor is to provide feedback and support to the Interns as they move through the three Phases of an Academy session. While mentors are the more experienced members of the community, they do not have all the answers. Rather, they act as guides for the Interns and play an active role in facilitating live web sessions and the moderating the Intern Forum discussion boards.

Their primary responsibilities are to:

• Guide new Interns through the three Phases of the Academy,
• Provide vision regarding the possibilities of using Drupal,
• Encourage the Interns progress, and
• Facilitate the sharing of experiences among all Interns.

The following tools are resources are available to Interns of the Drupal CMS Academy.

Objective - Phase 3: The objectives of Phase 3 are to:

1. Complete your project based on the performance goals set out in Phase 1, and
2. Document your progress.

Key Activities - Phase 3: Interns are expected to complete the following activities to satisfy the objectives of this Phase:

• Sandbox: Interns will complete their web sites to meet the performance goals set out in Phase 1.

Objective - Phase 2: The objectives of Phase 2 are to:

1. Work toward achieving the individual performance goals laid out in Phase 1,
2. Share experiences with others in the Academy, and
3. Provide support to your peers.

Key Activities - Phase 2: Interns are expected to complete the following activities to satisfy the objectives of this Phase:     

Sandbox: Interns will work toward developing their web site based on their individual performance goals.

Forum Discussion: Interns will share their progress and seek help from peers and mentors within the Intern Forum established for Phase 2. They will also read and respond to the Intern Forum posts of other Academy Interns.

Live Web Casts: Interns are encouraged to participate in all live web sessions. However, as this may not be possible, interns are asked to review the session recordings. During the live sessions, Interns will be asked to:

• Share: Provide the group with a brief summary of what has been learned during the week, the progress toward performance goals, and the areas where additional support and guidance is needed from the community.
• Showcase: Showcase the web site at least once during the six weeks.
• Facilitate: Facilitate a portion of the discussion in a live session at lease once during the six weeks to present something new to the group or to facilitate a discussion with a Drupal Power User.

Objective - Phase 1: The objective of Phase 1 is to establish and document your personal Drupal performance goals and objectives. Over the first week of the session, contemplate and document the following within the Intern Forum:

• Your Current Performance: Where are you today with regard to your use and knowledge of Drupal? Have you ever installed a Drupal site?
• Your Desired Performance: Where you want to be six weeks from now? Do you want to use Drupal to create a personal web site, a community space or an e-commerce site? Be specific as you document your goals as there are likely others out there who either share a common goal or have already tackled the problem.
• Your Road Map: What actions will you commit to in order to take your performance from where it is today to your desired performance goal? Do you think you will need a little or a lot of help and support from the community? Consider this road map to be a contract with yourself, as well as the others in the community. Be specific in contemplating what it is going to take to get you to your performance goals. Consider how you plan to use the resources available to you, including the weekly live web casts, the discussion forum, your peers in the Academy, your own Drupal “sandbox” installation, as well as links to outside sources.