ERIC EJ787959: Technology: Mentors on the Net: Extending Learning through Telementoring

5 Pages·2003·0.09 MB·English

by  ERIC

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Mentors on the Net: Extending
Learning Through Telementoring
“At its core, a mentorship reflects the way in which humans
have always passed on their legacy, their artistry.” (Tomlinson, 2001, p. 5)
P
arents, classroom teachers, and teachers of the gifted cannot be all
things to the young people in their charge. The nature and diversity
of gifted students’ interests demand resources beyond the confines of
the school and sometimes beyond the confines of the community. These
demands demonstrate the need for mentors and other resource people.
The mentoring process has extended through the movement (Milan & Schwartz, 1992). What distin-
centuries. The term mentor had its origin in Homer’s guishes mentoring from other programs for the gifted
Odysseywhen Odysseus entrusted the education of his is that it is essential when students have skills and
son Telemachus to a wise and learned man named interests that are “so advanced or divergent from the
Mentor (Heller & Sindelar, 1991). Mentors provide typical school resources that they need to be placed in
content sophistication that normally would not be situations where those resources are available”
accessible from traditional resources (Siegle, 2001). (Colemen & Cross, 2001, p. 325). Gifted students
Not all mentoring occurs in person, though; mentor- require mentors when they have interests that their
ing can also occur through the Internet. One of the peers are not yet ready to explore. They require this
fastest growing areas of mentoring is telementoring, special contact with others who are interested in their
also known as virtual mentoring, e-mentoring (Nash, ideas (Roberts & Inman, 2001). Gifted students also
2001), or iMentoring (Buery, n.d.). “Telementoring is benefit from mentorships when they master content
a nascent revolution poised for take-off into cyber- and skills sooner than their peers. Through mentor-
space. The technology, interest, and need are driving ships, young people can learn more deeply and at an
the alignment of businesses, schools, and technology accelerated pace with meaningful and personal feed-
developers” (Robb, 1997, p. 1). The general goal of back (Purcell, Renzulli, McCoach, & Spottiswoode,
most telementoring programs is to provide individu- 2001). In effect, mentoring provides the benefits of
alized academic, motivational, and emotional support both enrichment (Nash, 2001) and acceleration
by using technology to bring adults into children’s (Nash; Rogers & Kimpston, 1992).
school experiences. Torrance (1984) documented that mentors make
a difference in the creative achievement and educa-
Mentoring and Gifted Education tional attainment of mentees. Individuals with men-
tors complete more education than those without
Mentoring has been incorporated into gifted edu- them, and having a mentor is significantly related to
cation since the beginning of the gifted education adult achievement. Study and program evaluation
GIFTED CHILD TODAY 51
Mentors on the Net
reports have consistently shown positive respond to questions; Mentor Pairs and Partnerships
results for mentorships (Beck, 1989; • mentors who are paired with a sin-
Ellingson, Haeger, & Feldhusen, 1986; gle learner; and Many businesses provide telemen-
Hamilton & Hamilton, 1992; Prillaman • mentors who work in partnerships toring as a service option. As early as
& Richardson, 1989; Swassing & (Riel, n.d.). 1995, Hewlett Packard provided sup-
Fichter, 1991; Wright & Borland, port for its employees to participate in
1992). Mentor Experts an e-mail mentoring program. The H-P
program is now part of the larger
Telementoring Mentor experts usually have short International Telementor Program,
interactions with students. This often which provides academic mentoring
The ubiquitous nature of the involves topical focus Web sites that are support for fourth-grade through college
Internet makes telementoring a popular sponsored by corporations or organiza- students from professionals of sponsor-
option for gifted students. Telementoring tions. Students e-mail their questions to ing companies. All student/mentor com-
becomes even more important for stu- the organization and an expert on the munication is project-focused and
dents with esoteric interests from rural topic e-mails a reply. The interaction is facilitated by a teacher or parent
and low-income communities because usually limited to the exchange of an e- (International Telementor Program, n.d.).
educators and parents in these areas may mail with a possible follow-up e-mail. A survey of teachers with students
find it difficult to locate a nearby mentor. Many of these sites keep archives of the involved in ITP between May 2000 and
Telementoring can also increase techno- questions and answers, which often pro- March 2002 found that 81% of the teach-
logical literacy for students in low-income vide interesting reading for students. ers reported their students took more
communities where exposure to technol- How many people know that the old- responsibility for their learning as a result
ogy may be limited. est living tree is almost 5,000 years old? of being involved in a telementoring pro-
The size and complexity of the One of the scientists at the MadSci ject (Lewis, 2002). “The vast majority of
Internet can make it difficult to bring Network(http://www.madsci.org), a pop- teachers witnessed significant improve-
inquisitive students and learned adults ular mentor expert site, did when he ment in writing skills, self-directed learn-
together. Fortunately, a number of orga- responded to a question from a middle ing, teamwork, critical thinking skills,
nizations provide such services. The school student from Massachusetts. career and workplace knowledge, desire to
National Mentoring Partnership MadSci Networkfeatures hundreds of sci- go to college, subject grades, and science
(http://www.mentoring.org) features an entists who field questions about the world comprehension” (p. 2).
extensive Web site on all aspects of orga- and also an extensive archive of previously The most successful telementoring
nizing and running mentorship pro- answered questions that can be searched by programs are usually partnerships that
grams. In addition to the program topic, keywords, or grade level. include a three-component design that
information, the site also includes infor- A variety of “ask an expert” indexes involves students, their teachers, and
mation about telementoring and links to abound on the Internet. These sites fea- mentors. Students in these programs
telementoring organizations such as the ture links that usually provide an index may not participate unless a teacher
International Telementor Program (ITP; of expert sites in a variety of subject sponsors them, and some programs
http://www.telementor.org). areas. Some of the more comprehensive allow parents to sponsor their children.
Telementoring ranges from a single sites are Pitsco’s Ask an Expert site The teacher works with the student to
e-mail reply for a question, to collabora- (http://www.askanexpert.com), refdesk. design a mentoring proposal. Together
tive projects among teachers, students, com (http://www.refdesk.com/expert. they submit the student’s proposal to an
and mentors. Telementoring helps html), Ask an Expert Sources (http:// online mentoring organization that
bridge the digital divide separating those www.cln.org/int_expert.html), posts it for consideration by potential
who regularly use new information tech- Scientific American (http://www.sciam. mentors (Dahle, 1998).
nologies from those who don’t. It also com/askexpert_directory.cfm), Once a mentor match is made, the
enables mentor volunteers to use their Yahooligans! (http://www.yahooligans. teacher usually monitors the student’s par-
limited time effectively and efficiently. com/school_bell/Ask_an_Expert), and ticipation. E-mail is the most common
Telementoring is usually divided into CIESE’s Educational Links (http:// communication format, although many
three types of programs: k12science.ati.stevens-tech.edu/askan larger telementoring organizations offer
• mentor experts who agree to expert.html). secure online discussion forums for men-
52 FALL 2003 • VOL. 26, NO. 4
tors and mentees to use (International
Table 1
Telementor Program, n.d.). Organizations
with these systems often limit all commu- Web Sites Related to Mentoring
nication between the mentor and mentee
to their secure system, which maintains Ask an Expert (http://www.askanexpert.com) is a student-friendly site that
the privacy of all parties and also allows features hundreds of experts who field students’ questions.
the telementoring organization to moni-
tor the mentor and mentee interactions. International Telementor Program(http://www.telementor.org) is a leader
The monitoring is necessary to safeguard in telementoring. Students and potential mentors can register at this site,
the mentee and limit the liability of the which also includes valuable information on the telementor process.
telementoring organization.
One reason why programs such as Letting Education Achieve Dreams
H-P’s telementoring program, after (http://www.uhv.edu/lead/mentoring.htm) is an initiative of the University of
which ITP is fashioned, have been so Houston–Victoria. The Web site contains background information on mentor-
effective is that they require specific ing, information about mentor ethics, and a list of frequently asked questions.
commitments from everyone involved.
Students must be sponsored by a MadSci Network (http://www.madsci.org) is an interactive site where students
teacher, who, in turn, must agree to cer- can post questions related to science that are answered by a pool of scientists.
tain ground rules. Teachers must devise
National Mentoring Partnership(http://www.mentoring.org) is probably the
lesson plans for mentoring projects,
most extensive mentorship related site on the Internet. The site contains step-
coordinate those projects with tradi-
by-step instructions for developing and running a mentoring program. The
tional classwork, and guarantee that the
site also provides links to established mentoring programs.
students will have e-mail access. For
their part, mentors agree to own the
Nebraska State Department of Education’s Work Based Project
relationship. Mentors respond to every
(http://www.nde.state.ne.us/TECHPREP/WBL/PDF%20files/WBL%20MA
e-mail and stay with their mentees even
NUAL/PT’VIII.E%20110-123.pdf) displays pages of useful forms for begin-
when mentees may waiver. This type of
ning mentoring programs.
mentorship isn’t a substantial sacrifice
for mentors. Most telementors send and
Northwest Regional Lab’s National Mentoring Center
receive from one to three e-mails per
(http://www.nwrel.org/mentoring) features publications and Web resources on
week in such programs (Dahle, 1998).
mentoring.
Telementoring has some unique
advantages over traditional mentoring. It
The Mentoring Center(http://www.mentor.org) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt,
• provides a means of connecting thou-
private, nonprofit organization in the San Francisco Bay area. This site con-
sands of professionals with students
tains information on mentoring and links to mentoring programs.
on a scale that is impractical with tra-
ditional face-to-face mentoring;
• matches students with appropriate dents to work on long-term projects students that they need to learn.
mentors without geographic limita- with their mentors and allows men- • Students are responsible for develop-
tion; tors to see the impact they are hav- ing their own special projects based
• allows convenient, consistent, ing on students (International on their interests. When students are
weekly communication between Telementor Program, n.d.). encouraged to explore their own
students, and mentors and creates Telementoring provides four major ben- curiosities, they are much more
an archive of all communication; efits for teachers: likely to engage in effective, multidi-
• eliminates scheduling problems • With telementoring projects, students mensional learning. Students focus
between mentors and students become fully engaged in projects, on their particular interests and learn
because an e-mail communication which makes teachers’ jobs much eas- to incorporate a variety of skills into
can be sent any time; and ier. Teachers can then facilitate learn- a project. For example, these may
• provides the opportunity for stu- ing, rather than trying to convince include research, writing, math, and
GIFTED CHILD TODAY 53
Mentors on the Net
experimentation. clusion of the mentoring program. ferences in lives. In their simplest form,
• Telementoring utilizes the skills and Information about benefits, risks, and mentoring programs can begin with one
knowledge of adult professionals. By strategies for organizing a mentoring child working with one adult. From that
tapping into these specialists, teach- program can be found on the National simple beginning, the possibilities are
ers are provided a vast new resource Mentoring Partnership Web site (http:// limitless. Telementoring through the
of expertise that brings the world www.mentoring.org). Internet is one option for turning possi-
into the classroom. Likewise, stu- bilities into realities. GGGGCCCCTTTT
dents receive instruction from field Characteristics of Students
professionals and gain access to sig- Who Benefit From Mentoring References
nificant new role models.
• The value of students interacting Highly motivated students with Beck, L. (1989). Mentorships: Benefits
with people outside the classroom is focused interests are the best candidates and effects on career development.
beyond measure. They learn about for telementoring. These students usually Gifted Child Quarterly, 33,22–28.
different careers, lifestyles, and cul- have independent work habits, a strong Buery, R. (n.d.). Building electronic
tures. And, by working with a men- grasp of subject matter, and a desire to be bridges to connect mentors and young
tor to whom they are accountable, mentored (Roberts & Inman, 2001). people. Retrieved March 15, 2003,
students develop a new understand- They are goal-driven and can articulate a from http://www.uwnyc.org/tech-
ing of the importance of being clear purpose for their mentorship. news/v3_n6_a2.html
responsible (International Telementor Students who are disenfranchised Coleman, L. J., & Cross, T. L. (2001).
Program, n.d.). with their educational program some- Being gifted in school: An introduc-
Telementoring need not be limited times indicate that they wish to work on tion to development, guidance, and
to large-scale national programs. their own with a mentor. The fact that teaching. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
Classroom teachers or gifted and talented students indicate they want to work on Dahle, C. (1998). HP’s mentor connec-
coordinators can match their students their own doesn’t necessarily mean a tion. Retrieved March 26, 2003,
with adults through e-mail pen pals. mentorship is the best arrangement. from http://www.fastcompany.com/
While initially it is more convenient to Reilly (1992) noted that “on my own” online/19/hpmentor.html
locate community people who are willing can depict a desire to study a topic of Ellingson, M. K., Haeger, W. M., &
to serve as electronic resources, the par- interest not covered in the curriculum, Feldhusen, J. F. (1986). The Purdue
ticipant pool can expand to include con- to move more or less rapidly through the mentor program. G/C/T, 9(2), 2–5.
tacts around the country or even the curriculum, to work individually instead Hamilton, S. F., & Hamilton, M. A.
world. Most successful small programs of in a group, to produce a different (1992). Mentoring programs:
prefer to begin by involving a group of product than was assigned, or to see con- Promise and paradox. Phi Delta
people at a single business, rather that a nections between the content and the Kappan, 73, 546–550.
group of mentors who are spread out. As “real world.” She cautioned that, because Heller, M. P., & Sindelar, N. W. (1991).
one organizer noted, “I didn’t want to get schools have the primary responsibility Developing an effective teacher mentor
a geographic spread of people. I wanted to educate children, they should investi- program. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta
them to all be in one location because I gate a variety of available resources Kappa Educational Foundation.
felt, as important as it was to have men- within the school before asking others (ERIC Document Reproduction
tors, it was just as important to train the for a mentoring commitment. Service No. ED 332 996)
mentors” (Robb, 1997, p. 11). The inter- When students have a clear goal, International Telementor Program.(n.d.).
actions can range from assistance with mentoring works. It works at all age lev- Retrieved March 15, 2003, from
long-term projects, to simple tasks such els. It works under a variety of conditions. http://www.telementor.org
as providing students with feedback on It works because mentors recognize Lewis, C. W. (2002). International
their schoolwork. If the mentor pool is in young people’s talents and interests and Telementoring Program executive
the area, a kickoff event such as a pizza provide them with opportunities to summary: Evaluation results from
party for the participating students and explore and develop them. Each year, teacher surveys. Fort Collins:
mentors can help acquaint the pairs. hundreds of thousands of young people Research and Development Center
Some programs elect to schedule a face- benefit from the wisdom and dedication for the Advancement of Student
to-face celebration meeting at the con- of adult mentors. Mentorships make dif- continued on page 63
54 FALL 2003 • VOL. 26, NO. 4
Creative Problem Solving Conference
continued from page 19 faction, this conference was a success. References
mation that had been learned and ana- Approximately half of the more than
lyzed over a 2-day period. The products 100 attendees had participated before, Isaksen, S. G., & Treffinger, D. J.
represented our group solution that was an indication that they were happy with
(1985). Creative problem solving:
interdisciplinary and required multiple past experiences. In addition, with
The basic course. Buffalo, NY:
media. Awards were given to those regard to evaluation requests for
Bearly Limited.
groups who created the best banner,
improvement suggestions, the most fre-
Kaplan, S. N. (1979). Inservice training
pamphlet, skit, or PowerPoint presenta-
quent response was that the conference
manual: Activities for developing cur-
tion, which were evaluated using the
should remain the same.
rubrics in Figure 2. riculum for the gifted/talented.
In conclusion, for the teacher of
While the focus of the conference Ventura, CA: Ventura County
gifted children, whether in a traditional
was to create solutions to the problem of Schools.
classroom setting or pull-out program, the
Internet piracy, it is interesting that
conference offers actual training and prac-
many students seemed to feel that the Author Note
tice in implementing an interdisciplinary
most important things they learned con-
curriculum using the creative problem
tributed to their affective development.
solving process. Other obvious benefits Special thanks to Joel McIntosh, whose
In response to the student evaluation
include a weekend of interaction with ideas created the first interdisciplinary
question “What was the most important
thing you learned?,” the most frequent other teachers of the gifted and gifted stu- creative problem solving conference, and
response was the value of teamwork or dents from across the state. For the gifted to Dr. Mary Witte, who directs the
working as part of a group. If the success student, the conference provides an excel- Center for Community Learning and
of the conference can be measured in lent opportunity for social interaction, as Enrichment at Baylor University and
terms of student participation and satis- well as academic challenges. GGGGCCCCTTTT administers the conference.
Mentors on the Net
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GIFTED CHILD TODAY 63