What's Next 2008: Special Report
Table of Contents
- What's Next: Ten Predictions for the Future of Public Education
- 1. Full-Service Schools: Where Success Is More Than Academic
- Video: Stealth Mental Health: Student Support Without the Stigma
- 2. In the Trenches: Community Activism Plays a Starring Role in Education Reform
- Posting Protests: Email Becomes Active in Education
- 3. Moral Aptitude: Schools Cultivate the Character Development of their Students
- Video: Talking Heads and Hearts: Intellectual and Emotional Education Make a Potent Pairing
- 4. Serious Gaming: Computer Games Become Potent Student Motivators and Evaluators
- Video: Grading with Games: An Interview with James Paul Gee
- 5. Behaveyourself.com: Online Manners Matter
- Beyond Emily: Post-ing Etiquette
- 6. The Media Is the Message: Invasive Messages Require Defensive Teaching
- Savvy Sites: Online Resources on Media Literacy
- 7. The Way of the Wiki: Building Online Creativity and Cooperation
- Wiki Woman: How a Web Tool Saved My Career
- Wiki Wisdom: How to Use an Online Classroom Clearinghouse
- 8. A Match Made in Cyberspace: The Next Generation of Teachers Will Seek Virtual Support
- Poll: Would you use online mentoring?
- 9. Hail to the New Chief: A Guide to the 2008 Presidential Candidates' Education Agenda
- Poll: Which candidate will be better for K-12 public education?
- 10. Rise of the Robots: Human-Machine Interaction Enhances Tech Teaching
- Poll: Do robots have a place in the classroom?
Advertisement
The Edutopia Poll
by Sara Ring
What if the teacher you mentored -- or were mentored by -- worked not across the hall, but across the country? That's a reality for educators who are turning to online mentoring programs to get advice, share ideas, and seek guidance on everything from teaching strategies to classroom discipline. Online mentoring sites connect novices with veteran teachers who can provide support and, hopefully, help keep new teachers in the profession. Although it seems unlikely that online mentoring programs will ever completely replace in-person, in-school mentoring, their growing popularity suggests a shift toward teachers finding the help they need online. Is online mentoring an appealing option to you? We want to know!
Online Mentoring
Through various listserves and other orgizantions I have been involved in online mentoring. While I do not believe that it should take the place of face to face mentors, I do believe that it has a place and many benefits.
Advanced Academics online mentoring program
We use a program called Advanced Academics. The "Talk to a Teacher" feature has been very useful, depending upon the teacher contacted. In particular, Mr. Bowie, a math instructor, is helpful from basic math through pre-Calc. The Trig and Pre-Calc students LOVED his approach. Yep, it's definitely a positive thing.
Online mentoring
Teachers don't always receive support on their campuses. It would be good to know there are other support systems out there.
E-Mentoring
I am a professor of Education at Lewis-Clark State College in Idaho.
We use E-Mentoring as a part of our mentoring program for the induction year of teaching.
We coordinate our program to meet the individual needs of the teacher and the district where they are employed.
We have been using an E-mentoring model for 6 years.
We also make visits to the school support our graduates.
It is working very well. We are also able to set up virtual communities to support our graduates with each other.
Our feedback from our graduates and the school district personnel has been very supportive.
Mentoring Program Resources
We would love to start an e-mentoring component of our district's (currently face-to-face) mentoring program. Could anyone point me in the direction of some great resources that would help us get started?