Reflection+on+Mentoring

=// Mentoring Reflection //=

Over the past few weeks, we have had the chance to mentor students from High Tech High as they work on a project related to water and the environment. The students were split up into groups and given a topic about water, for which they would need to research and write about. Our class was then divided up among these groups to provide help for the students. All of the interaction between the students and ourselves took place on the social networking website [|Ning.com]. This was a place that sort of acted as a supplement to some the face to face interaction that the students were missing out on in a traditional school setting. Students could talk to other students and teachers, teachers could organize projects, students could share work, or just talk casually. The water project had its own designated [|section] on the website, where students could get information and discuss the project and topics as a whole. In addition, each group had its own section on the Ning.com website set aside for the mentors to interact with the student.

During this time, I was working with three groups. Despite working with 6 students, I have to say that overall I did not get as much interaction with them as I would have liked. Once I was assigned my groups, I began by introducing myself to the students, and letting them know that I would be available to help them through the project. Unfortunately at this point only one group out of the three made any sort of response to the introduction. The next couple weeks warranted very little interaction between myself and the students, during which I spent time researching each of their topics so that if and when questions arose, I would be able to lead them in the right direction.

Some time later, my most active group finally asked for some real help. They had written up a rough draft of their paper and wanted someone to proof read it. The students posted up their paper on [|Google Docs] and added our e-mail addresses so we could view the paper. I felt that this was when I really started realizing that online learning was possible. Here were two students whom I had never met face to face, for which I was able to help by having them share their work with me electronically. Unfortunately, their paper was canceled, and I was unable to share my thoughts on their paper with them. Overall I don't think I had enough interaction with the students. I posted comments and messages letting them know that I was here to help but there were very few responses.

In conclusion, I appreciate the experience I had mentoring the High Tech High students through their water projects, but I definitely feel it could have been carried out in a more productive way. When mentoring students that you are face to face with, they are much more inclined to ask for help. I think that since this mentoring was carried out online, there may have been some apprehension on the students part when it came to asking for help because despite my introduction, I was a complete stranger to them. It could also just be that the students just didn't need very much help in completing their projects. In either case, it has given me first hand experience working with students in an online environment.

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