Abstract
Work-based learning (UK Foundation degree)student cohorts are typically geographically, temporally and professionally disparate. Work-based learning is authentic in being negotiated, contextual, and learner-driven; allowing students to construct relevant knowledge involving real world situations. Mentoring is both a form of authentic learning and an enhancement to it. Learning occurs in social contexts (Kerka 1997) and mentoring is a social practice (Garvey, Stokes, and Megginson 2006). Peer mentoring can be vital inwork-based learning; guiding students through the landscape of the learning journey by engaging in dialogue, identifying development needs, making implicit knowledge tacit and applying it to practice (Wilson Blewitt, and Moody, 2005) and by helping students to feel at ease with the learning environment (Stuart, Lido, and Morgan
2009). Students (andtheir mentors) must increasingly also navigate a digitallandscape; less of a problem for ‘digital natives’, butFoundation degree students are often mature individualsrecruited as part of the widening participation agenda. Oftentheir level of IT experience could be considered that of a‘digital tourist’. One potential solution to the problem of providing peer support is e-mentoring which is widely used,and debated, as a form of peripatetic support. It is popular because it might alleviate some of the barriers of timeconstraints and geographic distance (Penny and Bolton 2009); but is still considered by many to be a ‘poor cousin’ toconventional mentoring, mainly because its traditional toolssuch as e-mail (Martz and Reddy 2005) are limited in terms of media richness (Daft and Lengel 1984). There is littleinvestigative work into the value of new, more media-rich web2.0 tools, such as video e-mail, to facilitate peer mentoring.This exploratory study (in progress) directly engages ‘digitaltourists’ in authentic learning to solve a real world problemthrough evaluative and reflective practice. The results of thisstudy will be used to develop a ‘rough guide’ to effective e-mentoring for subsequent peer groups.
2009). Students (andtheir mentors) must increasingly also navigate a digitallandscape; less of a problem for ‘digital natives’, butFoundation degree students are often mature individualsrecruited as part of the widening participation agenda. Oftentheir level of IT experience could be considered that of a‘digital tourist’. One potential solution to the problem of providing peer support is e-mentoring which is widely used,and debated, as a form of peripatetic support. It is popular because it might alleviate some of the barriers of timeconstraints and geographic distance (Penny and Bolton 2009); but is still considered by many to be a ‘poor cousin’ toconventional mentoring, mainly because its traditional toolssuch as e-mail (Martz and Reddy 2005) are limited in terms of media richness (Daft and Lengel 1984). There is littleinvestigative work into the value of new, more media-rich web2.0 tools, such as video e-mail, to facilitate peer mentoring.This exploratory study (in progress) directly engages ‘digitaltourists’ in authentic learning to solve a real world problemthrough evaluative and reflective practice. The results of thisstudy will be used to develop a ‘rough guide’ to effective e-mentoring for subsequent peer groups.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Cross examination of the core |
| Subtitle of host publication | an interdisciplinary focus on authentic learning |
| Editors | Phil Fitzsimmons, Edie Lanphar |
| Place of Publication | Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| Publisher | Antonian Publishing |
| Pages | 64-83 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780984581009 |
| Publication status | Published - 2010 |