W1 Reading

Reflection of Relevant Literature

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This week we started reviewing our relevant literature related to our action research. Here is a summary  of the four articles I have selected:  

1—Understanding E-mentoring in Organizations.

This article, written by Carol B. Muller, president of Blue Sky consulting, provided a rich background to the benefits of online or e-mentoring opportunities.  She is the founder of MentorNet, an e-mentoring network for diversity in Engineering and sciences (www.MentorNet.net) Her work pulls from a lot of earlier research documenting the benefits of e-mentoring.  E-mentoring, sometimes referred to as iMentoring, virtual-mentoring or online mentoring is described as building a relationship with usually an adult in a specialized career area, matched up with a young adult for the purpose of guidance and assistance.  Electronic tools are used as the primary mode of communication.  She points out that there are two distinct aspects of “e-mentoring” programs; the use of electronic or email tools used to connect mentors and mentees and the technology platforms developed for such purposes.  A great quote I found interesting was related to the skill set students learn from engaging in online mentoring;

“Through the act of writing an email message a mentor, protégés learn more than they would from an oral conversation, partly because they must clarify first for themselves in words, the dilemmas, questions, opportunities, or other topics of discussion for which they seek input from a mentor.”

Email responses allow the mentors responding to be thoughtful and deliberate in how they respond, rather than impulsive and in the moment.

Muller, C. (2009). Understanding e-mentoring in organizations. Adult Learning, 20. Winter-Spring.n1-2, 25-30. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from     http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf23_24/pdf/2009/ADL/01Jan09/50255972.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=50255972&S=R&D=aph&EbscoContent=dGJyMMvl7ESeqK440dvuOLCmr0iep7NSrq%2B4TK%2BWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGvr0izqbdJuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA

2—E-Mentoring for e-learning development.

This article by Lynn Thompson, Mike Jeffries and Keith Topping all university professors, focused again on the benefits to both mentor organizations and lesser skills students.  The demand for mentors has made it difficult to match qualified skilled individuals with lesser skilled students, for example because of time and logistic constraints it is not always possible to have face to face meetings.   With e-mentoring many of these constraints are eliminated because the mentoring can be done in a flexible manner, when time permits. They recommend blended mentoring when possible, so you also have the fact to face interaction, to help build relationships.  According to McLuckie and Topping in 2004, effective e-mentoring requires skills; in e-learning development through a virtual learning environment (VLE), communication skills in an online environment as well as mentoring skills.  Their project involved training the mentors in two phases as well as implementing with the mentees, who were university students.  The setting was in a university evolving around the humanities and was action research that in the end held many flaws. Engagement and persistence on both the mentors and mentees parts at times, became an issue as well as expert opinion about subjects, because in many cases the students were adults with life experiences who had differing opinions than the mentors.  The researchers also felt additional training was required in order to help support the mentors more effectively. 

Thompson, L., Jeffries, M., and Topping, K. (2010, August).  E-mentoring for e-learning development.  Innovations      in Education & Teaching International 47(3), 305-315, 11p. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from      http://content.ebscohost.com/pdf23_24/pdf/2010/HZJ/01Aug10/52889463.pdf?     T=P&P=AN&K=52889463&S=R&D=ehh&EbscoContent=dGJyMMvl7ESeqK440dvuOLCmr0iep7NSs624S7GWxW  XS

  

3—E-mentoring in three voices.

This article took a different approach in report their findings.  It was a project completed between two colleagues, one a tenured professor another a junior professor who participated in an e-mentoring program along with the best practice literature on the topic.  They shared their comments alongside voices of the best practice literature related to e-mentoring.  It shared a personal touch about the participants experiences.  Benefits again included flexibility of time and meeting constraints, and drawbacks were lack of structure, support and no apparent long-range planning.  According to best practice literature on e-mentoring there are several areas that should be in place for successful e-mentoring programs.  These areas include; structure, objectives, administrative support, technical support, communication tools, training and support, and finally assessment.  Their research referred to The Free Management Library  who offers 5 foundation assumptions about mentoring situations: 1) Deliberate learning is the cornerstone; 2) Both failure and success are powerful teachers; 3) Leaders need to tell their stories because they offer valuable insight 4) Mentoring develops over time—it is a synthesis of ongoing events, experiences, observations, and thoughtful analysis and 5) Mentoring is a joint venture (Free Management Library 1997).  Since this research is more than 10 years old now, further investigation of this source is needed to find out this information has been undated.  But the initial assumptions listed here certainly sound like they still apply today.

Akin, L., Hilbun, J. (2007). E-mentoring in three voices. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administrations 10(1),  Spring. 1.  Retrieved September 21, 2010 from citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.110.6647

4—A Moderated Mediation Model of E-Mentoring—
findings based on research data from “icouldbe.org”, (ICB) as one of the successful online mentor programs currently in operation.  Press release March 29, 2010 in e-School news. http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/03/29/e-mentoring-study-touts-the-benefits-of-online-mentoring/

Jake Kersey of icouldbe.org, the online mentoring program my students will be participating with this year, sent this article to me.  As a result of using an online service that will match up the students with mentors based on career and skill interests, the structure piece will already be in place for the students.  The article was published this year and was the basis of the research for this study.  Their study addressed the gap in the current literature in how mentee differences may affect mentoring relationships.  Students are offered four topics from which to select guidance about; personal finance, college, career and school related and meet weekly online to respond to a variety of activities to help prepare them in these areas.  The findings in this study showed a positive relationship between the mentee’s Internet experience, and their self task efficacy.  The frequency of their meetings was critical to the success of the experience, and students who started with lower levels of self-efficacy in the end displayed stronger gains.  It goes without saying that the stronger the communication and computer skills the better the online experience will be, but that is why we want our students to have these experiences, so they will develop these skills to a higher level. 

DiRenzon, M., Linnehan, F., Shao, P. (2010). A moderated mediation model of e-mentoring. Journal of Vocational Behavior 76. 292-305 Retrieved from Youthmentoring.org  September 22, 2010 from http://www.youthmentoring.org.au/assets/pages/pdf/RQ%20Winter%202010.pdf