Between 9 - 23 September 2002 Carole McCulloch hosted a forum that looked at strategies for mentoring new teachers in the elearning environment and how this can be done online. This article summarises the outcomes of the discussion.

Discussion Summary

One of the tasks that online mentors need to do is moderate their discussion forums. There are many 'rules' for doing this effectively. Some rules are:

1. Make a point of welcoming the new participant.
   
2. Controversy is good
   
3. Don't feed the trolls- see http://www.faqs.org/faqs/sf/david-weber/
4. Know your flame warrior - see www.winternet.com/~mikelr/flame01.html
5. Contrive activity if necessary

Good mentors:

• engender a participatory environment (an appreciation of group dynamic theory is a big help)
  
• maintain a separation between how they react (and the reaction of others) to what is read, and the person behind the keyboard.

Mentoring online is much like mentoring elsewhere - it can be a formal or informal relationship.

A good mentor is someone who asks "what do you want from me?" and a good "mentee" is someone who can answer the question. ;-)  The best mentors help you answer your own question.

The greatest benefit of online communication is its asynchronousness. Consider how a forum can help:

• share ideas
  
• pool resources
  
• archive history
  
• create a supportive environment
  
• provide anonymity
  
• share experiences
  
• share problems
  
• overcome isolation

The use of email communication tools can

• provide reminders
  
• set & negotiate deadlines
  
• provide encouragement
  
• provide direct feedback

I have benefited over the last few years from a few mentors who have helped me to take great strides online: some have been colleagues onsite and others have been virtual - some as far away as the UK and USA. The mentoring I've received 'online' has been invaluable in providing me with the context and the confidence to do the same for others. So, can online mentoring be of help to teachers? - YES, YES, YES!

Online mentoring can be a big help for all teachers, but maybe we have to resign ourselves to the fact that, much like any other form of communication, it can't be all things to all people. It is but another arrow in our quiver of tools…

There may be some difficulty in separating the two roles: "teaching online" and "mentoring online" as often the two go together.

The Help Desk version of a mentor is a most effective one that I see being used in many organisations that offer online learning.

Online mentoring should follow many of the rules of face-to-face mentoring. It is simply using communications tools to carry the message between teacher and student. The difficulty with much of the online communications is that this often occurs asynchronously with time gaps inhibiting the timely feedback which may be required.

We are more and more becoming time poor, as are our students, and cannot often find that vital time to build the relationships we would like, either online or off line. In many cases, especially with XY generation students, long drawn-out in-depth getting-to-know-you exercises are probably not their norm. A quick SMS type communication at regular intervals may be all that is required.

Mentoring in a hostage situation [meaning where a participant has no choice whether to participate or not] would be more difficult as it induces a fair degree of tokenism. A different range of strategies are required to convert the tokenism to active participation.

As a teacher (online or not) students will expect you to have the answers if they ask you a question and will want you to tell them. So how do you provide the opportunity for the answer to come from elsewhere so that students help and collaborate with each other? It seems to me that it is all in the timing - a student can post a question to a forum, but as a teacher you don’t jump in straight away to answer it - see what will happen - maybe another student will come up with a suggestion. But when there is no answer forthcoming, the online student starts feeling abandoned and frustrated. So judging the WAIT time is important here.

Mentors should be asking – not 'why' questions, but 'how' questions that 'help the other person talk about what is important to that person.' How does this work for an online TAFE teacher? Thinking about framing such questions is quite a skill - at least in an online environment you have reflective time to ponder what the question should be that will help the other person talk about what is important to them.

Most mentoring seems to be about working in a one-to-one relationship with a person over an extended period of time. So I wonder if this is really what a student wants or expects from a teacher who is teaching an online course, especially a TAFE student.

Mentoring is about Relationships!

A mentor will create a relationship of trust with their mentee/s and the mentoring arrangement will last as long as the trust remains. What does trust really mean? How is the relationship created and fostered?

In the context of being an online teacher I would have a few strategies which are really basic ones such as:

• post up a photo of yourself with some personal stuff about what you do so students can relate a bit more
  
• write up an online lesson in a friendly chatty way, as if you were just there talking to them so it seems more personal
  
• send out a weekly email which is a very personal account of what is happening and what you are doing as well as the more formal stuff inside it.
  
• have a face to face meeting at the beginning and a hands on technical session to post to their first discussion group
  
• lots of positive reinforcement does help them to dangle their toe and trust the online environment, especially if the students meet each other (real world) in the beginning.

In my short experience the following have worked for me:

• spend a lot of time in the beginning with stepping them through the first tasks online
  
• reply as soon as possible to enquiries and calls for help
  
• keep a sense of humour with the students, using emoticons and slang/ abbreviations as much as possible. (They seem to think it is really funny the attempts I make and enjoy correcting me)
  
• check out if things are going OK. Have ongoing correspondence
  • be responsive to their needs by giving advice (only on-subject - strictly nothing to do with the love life!!)
  
• whispering in the chat room to them (they seem to enjoy individual attention)
  
• and of course acknowledge their efforts as much as possible.
  
  This probably sounds very simplistic but seems to be working for us.

How about:

• provide feedback and validate their feelings
  
• enable growth in their personal development.

Here are a few items from an Elearning Mentor Duty Statement:

• Model best practice in elearning.
  
• Motivate and inform about elearning.
  
• Be active in a range of elearning forums.
  
• Contribute to problem solving activities of elearning teams.
  
• Work collaboratively in an elearning team environment.

Like any relationship, online relationships take time, they can’t be hurried. They rely on mutual disclosure, trust comes with risk.

I believe that unambiguous disclosures can be fostered and nurtured in an online environment without the parties ever meeting face-to-face. That is not to say that the process is an easy one, far from it, it does take time and effort. A great deal of that effort is spent (should be spent) on communicating in just the right words that will facilitate, foster and maintain the mentoring conversations. In choosing the right words, the notion of 'respecting' the listener is crucial - and does in fact go a long way to developing a trusting environment.

It is hard to build trust if you only have students for a short time.

In essence, online relationships are managed no differently to any others. There are various levels of engagement.
 
I'd suggest that an unambiguous trusting relationship is very difficult to foster exclusively online, or exclusively through other written communication, or exclusively through any one communication medium.

The fostering and nurturing of a trusting environment is something that is readily achievable... create and maintain the environment and the relationships may well look after themselves.

A little respect goes a long way.

Many of my experiences in mentoring online have grown into long-lasting friendships – relationships that I now value highly.

Online mentoring enabled me to build credibility in my field.
 
The use of mentors has been very successful for me on a couple of occasions (at Uni and when working on my skills for career progression). You do need someone you can trust because your vulnerable "weaker under-belly" is exposed. They know more than you on the area in which they are mentoring you and can use this knowledge to their advantage, especially if you mention some failings along the way. Therefore, the selection of the right person is crucial! The development of trust and the consequent relationship can only be established via face-to-face contact, if you know the person, or after discussing other topics with the person and getting a "feel for them" in cyberspace. The use of informal language and emoticons can help to relax the mentee and make the conversation flow and increase rapport.

Building a trusting relationship is at the heart of successful mentoring, online or otherwise.

An ice-breaker activity for your enjoyment!

Which Flame Warrior are you?
Flame Warriors http://redwing.hutman.net/%7Emreed/

Responses:

• I figure the Flame Warrior site illustrates a big lesson with on-line communication - once you hit the submit button you lose all control over how what you've written is perceived. Attributing the perceived online persona to the person behind the keyboard is something you do at your own peril.
  
• I agree, it is better to speak 'plain English' when providing feedback or encouragement to your mentees. To leave the interpretation up to them is courting danger and jeopardising trust.
  
• I don't know if you can avoid "flame warriors", each of us will unwittingly create an online persona, it's inevitable, it's a key limitation of written communication. It's is also inevitable that not all personas will agree.
  
• I have a simple test which I call "beer in paw"…
  When I meet someone in the flesh for the first time (typically with beer in paw), I meet them for the first time. Until that time I may have communicated with them, but I haven't met them!

Question:  I note that my article has been read 152 times, and of course I'm pleased about that, but I wonder how many of those Lurking might just be too shy to enter into our discussions. How can we draw them in painlessly?

Note: A lurker doesn’t take part in normal forum discourse, but is “out there” watching and reading every message.

Answers from the group:

• It is difficult when you know nothing about your lurker. At least in a class setting you can get to know the person, something that interests them maybe and then encourage them to participate. But online it is so hard. I like the idea of the ice breaker that you have set for us to take a glance at and then forward our comments to the discussion board. This is something that is very innocent, it is not asking for your strong opinion on anything, nor is it asking you to divulge any personal information...it is merely asking you to have a look and say which ones take your fancy. Many people will drop in and have a look just to see what is happening...if all they are doing is having a look, do we want to encourage these people into our discussion group?
  
• You need to provide a reason to lurk, then implement strategies to convert the lurking to participation. You have to have the activity first.
  
• People seem to find it hard to resist a thread showing numerous replies - it looks so inviting to see all those names up there having a good natter, you just have to go and read them to see what's going on.

Question: I am having the greatest difficulty persuading my fellow lecturers to participate in Discussion Forums. Is it because most of us are 'Baby Boomers' and are not quite as comfortable with the technology as we would like to believe.

Answer:  I think the answer lies in the comfort zones of people as they explore the dizzy and scary heights of 'writing and publishing globally'. For many of us we are quite happy to prepare our papers, lesson plans, theses etc for a selected audience, but we are not yet used to 'publishing' online and putting our thoughts out there for all to view and critique.

Probably best to start with small, non-threatening online writing tasks - contributions to the Newsletter, the Intranet then the website and finally to an E-library that would be shared amongst their peers. Then they may feel more confident in sharing their writings in a global arena.

People need a WIIFM (What’s in it for me) to participate - in anything, not just learning. This can, to some extent, be set up by the moderator/mentor (an enticing introduction for example) in an effort to engage people. Getting them in is in some ways the easy part though, the challenge is maintaining the momentum and the trick seems to be through interaction with the participants - relationship building as others have said (ego stroking, other less warm and fuzzy types have suggested).

Question:  I'm wondering what the difference is between a 'mentor' and a 'moderator' or 'facilitator' in an online setting.

Answers from the group:

• Having read a website on mentors I don't think that a TAFE teacher is a mentor in the true sense of the word. A one on one relationship - what a luxury that would be instead of having 50 enrolled! Most students come and go fairly quickly - maybe in a diploma it may be different.
  
• What is the difference between a mentor and a coach? One website says coaching is a cousin to mentoring - whatever that means. Perhaps online teachers are really coaches and not mentors?

Neat, quick, effective strategies to engage at a distance

• I believe that there is some merit in offering some 'Gaming' element, especially for the X and Y generations - anything that involves scoring points, moving up a level and gaining virtual status.
  
• I'd advocate an 'Online Writing' course to get them started and used to the idea of having their written work critiqued - that takes away some of the fear when contributing to discussion boards. Try http://www.writersvillage.com/.

Question: I'd be interested in hearing how other people have encouraged and managed participation in the less formal types of learning events, such as workshops, online conferences, LearnScope work based project activities etc. While all of us claim to "want to", "mean to", "fully intend to" actively participate; in reality it's a bit like those vitamin pills in the bathroom cabinet with the use-by date of Feb 1995. Unless there's a truly compelling reason to participate, it seems easier to sit back and watch. So - is online mentoring a bit like trying to herd cats?

Answers

• Yep. Online mentoring is a LOT like herding cats! I've seen the movie on this and it's fantastic. They have got to WANT to be herded.
  
• Newsbreak! Friday 13th - Black Cats seen being herded into the swirling portal of a large URL. "Danger! Danger!" says Robbie the Robot waving his silver mechanical arms wildly. Several Mentors in flowing gold robes seen following the long line of cats each carrying their crystal ball and sceptre of office. Large letters emblazoned across the banner they carried between them... "They just have to want to be herded".....
  
  And there was me, cat herder mentor with no flowing gold robes, just wearing my pyjamas at the computer late on Friday night (isn't that what online mentors wear?) wondering when one of those bloody cats was actually going to post rather than lurk, and how the hell I could actually get some interactive meowing going. What could make these guys want to be herded? 291 cats had visited the cattery and only a handful had actually scratched the post. I decide to forget about 286 cats who are just browsing and focus on the active 6. Maladjusted mentor says “why bother”.

More on "herding cats"...

Herding cats movie (if you dare)
http://www.stupidvideos.com/Default.asp?VideoID=323

Herding cats games
http://games.net4tv.com/games4tv/members/platforms/webtv/cats/index.php

Herding Cats: A descriptive case study of a virtual language learning community.
http://netdial.caribe.net/~jhsteele/cats.html
Steele, John H. (2002). University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, May 2002.

Mentoring and Time Management

Question: How should an online mentor schedule their 'office hours' and ensure they are there for their mentees on a regular and consistent basis.

Answers

Here are some ideas worth considering for use in the WebCT environment:

• Calendar Notices - In the built in calendar add items to each day to indicate when you're available online.
  
• Homepage Upper or Lower Text Block - Using the designer options, add a block of text to sit above or below the icons or background image, to indicate your office hours.
  
• Discussion Topics - Add a specific topic to the discussion tool with a title:
  "Office Hours" and post a message with your weekly office hours. Useful if your availability changes from week to week
  
• Don't forget plain old telephones (POTS) and plain old emails (POES)?
  
• Teleconference Scheduling - Ask the mentee to contact you by telephone on a regular basis (say once a fortnight). In the event that they have not contacted you, ring them.
  
• Email notifications - Send regular emails to your mentees to let them know of your availability online and to keep a regular line of conversation open to them via email.
  
• What about real time, face-to-face meetings? - Organise with your mentees some mutually agreeable meeting times and venues wherever possible!
  
• The Instant Messenger Communication Tool. - I have let students know when I am likely to be online, and they have been given my ICQ number and contact me that way. I always knew when one of these students was online at the same time as me and we would always make some contact when it happened, even if just a hello. It was very human. The Janison LMS has a similar tool. The Instant Messenger Tool can be more widespread if you use the one provided in the browser. Students will see you when you are logged on to the Internet, and there is also a facility to make yourself invisible if you are off-duty.

I am experimenting at the moment in the TAPPED IN environment and using TAPestry. I can:

• see when other people are present
  
• create my own office on any floor or level of a building
  
• collect objects from a supplies room and place them in my office
  
• leave messages on my own discussion board
  
• chat to people on any floor
  
• visit them in their offices

We offer a lot of our courses by distance education and we are not attempting to incorporate virtual contact. Part of the dilemma for supporting distance students is that of maintaining some means of contact, either by phone, mail or email at present. But, what is regarded as a reasonable number of students to maintain regular contact with? And do all students require the same type of support? And the costs... phone, time, human resources! Online mentoring adds yet another dimension.

When I was teaching full time, I would have had up to and over 200 different students I should be supporting, as well as face-to-face students who could be accommodated in the classroom or on campus. I ran out of steam...

Many staff still have this type of dilemma - with the compartmentalisation of competencies into smaller 'chunks' and the offering of all of these in different combinations, teachers are all suffering from overload, and trying to find new and more creative ways of maintaining the mentoring role with their students.

I don't think that mentoring groups of students in large numbers would be sustainable. Ultimately I think that any organisation would require a 'team of mentors' to provide the necessary support for teachers and students, but in two different ways.

Recommended links:

Tapped In – a community of education professionals
http://tappedin.org/tappedin/

Teachers first – mentoring resources
http://www.teachersfirst.com/mentor.htm

This one has a really nice way of introducing the mentors
http://www.cvc3.org/mentors.htm

Writer's Village University
http://fiction.4-writers.com/faq.shtml

Peer resources
http://www.mentors.ca/

I found some great resources (both old and new) here -
http://www.exemplas.com/people/mentors_forum_home.asp

Mentoru
http://www.mentoru.com/

The Diversity Training Group - Mentor Development Checklist
http://www.diversitydtg.com/tools/mentor.html

Deliver the promise
http://deliverthepromise.com/mentoring/

Mentor Services and Organizations that Specialize in Mentoring
http://www.mentors.ca/mentorlinks.html

Contributors:
Margaret Boys, Joanne Fuller, Sue Goodbourn, Alison Gotts, Margaret Granger, Rose Grozdanic, Louise Housden, Rob Mann, Carole McCulloch, Andrea Neale, Susanne Nyrop