Stronger connections between mentors and teachers

Introduction Sustained and ongoing communication Variety of PD Connections between mentors and teachers Links to learning communities

Mentoring programs are increasingly popular as professional development interventions. They are proven to be successful with new teacher induction and retention, as well as to allow experienced teachers leadership opportunities and the chance to refresh their skills. However, creating the time and space for sustained face-to-face meetings with mentors can be a challenge for those districts that are geographically dispersed, where funding is limited, or where mentors have a large number of mentees.

Online technologies can provide alternate and additional means of communication between mentors and mentees that span distance and time, and can be more cost effective. All of these tools can be used alone or in combinations.

Tools and Strategies

Individual email or moderated email list
Discussion board - an electronic message center that allows you to asynchronously read and respond to messages posted by others. These can be either open or password protected areas. Often discussion boards (sometimes called Forums) are moderated by a facilitator who not only helps to move the discussion forward, but also monitors for inappropriate messages.
Teleconferencing - high speed network connections allow users to have audio or video conferences where groups can share computer applications and work collaboratively on a whiteboard or document.
Synchronous Online Communications - applications such as instant messaging or chat rooms where groups can meet in real time and exchange text-based communication.
Blog/WIKI - a blog or weblog is a personal, online journal that is updated frequently, open for public consumption, and usually carries the personality of the author. A WIKI is similar to a blog in format, but it a collaborative space where multiple authors can add, edit, or delete content to a page.

Successful Practices

e-Mentoring for Student Success
http://www.newteachercenter.org/emss/
e-Mentoring for Student Success is an MSP project designed to create an e-mentoring network for new and experienced science teachers through online dialogs using discussion boards and chat rooms.
The Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Teaching
http://www.sedl.org/scimast/teachers/prof_dev/t_online_mentoring.html
The Consortium has an online mentoring board where teachers can pose questions on resources, teaching strategies, assessment, or science and math content.
Teachfirst
http://www.teachfirst.com/teachfirst/whoelse.cfm
Teachfirst is a vendor of professional development solutions that include video case studies as well as e-mentoring capabilities.