What is E-mentoring?
Why do we do e-mentoring?
Is it safe?
How does it work?
What is E-Mentoring?
E-mentoring is a school based online programme that allows undergraduates at The University of Northampton to provide students with academic support on a regular basis.
E-mentoring is the development of a relationship between an older more experienced person and a younger person. The purpose is to provide support, advice and encouragement to a young person going through a period of transition in their lives, and to become an inspirational role model.
An e-mentor is an adult who, along with parents, provides young people with support, friendship, advice and encouragement.
E-mentors are good listeners, people who care, people who want to help young people bring out strengths that are already there.
An e-mentoring relationship can take many forms. In the best relationships, the mentor helps the mentee define and achieve his/her goals.
E-mentoring is one of the easiest and most effective methods of giving a child encouragement, support and advice.
Undergraduates from The University of Northampton are matched with students in school, using electronic communication as the method of mentoring. The Undergraduates then provide regular support to their students in the form of new activities, feedback on work, suggestions on additional resources e.g. websites, information on University life and perhaps most importantly encouragement.
Why do we use e-mentoring?
E-mentoring is a powerful tool that is most effective when used as a compliment to other strategies of development or support.
There are a wide range of benefits that e-mentoring can bring to your children, for example:
- To provide support and assistance with school work
- To motivate students in order to improve their academic achievement
- To increase student's use of ICT
- To increase self esteem
- To develop ICT skills and awareness
- To provide opportunities to develop appropriate relationships with supportive adults outside the school environment
- To improve academic achievement
- To make a difference.
Is it Safe?
The safety and security of the children is the most important aspect when developing an e-mentoring programme. It is essential that the students are protected at all times during the programme. The way we ensure this is:
- All mentors are cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau
- All communication received by the students has already been read by the mentor co-ordinator before the child receives it
- All communication that takes place between the mentor and the student is audited on a regular basis and is kept on file for 5 years
- There is no direct communication between the mentor and the student unless another adult is present.
How does it work?
Each mentor / student relationship has an individual secure portal through which the communication takes place. These portals are hidden behind a double layer of password protection.
The communication process works as follows:
- The student sends a message to their mentor via their portal
- That message is copied to their teacher and the line manager of their mentor
- The mentor receives the message in their email inbox at University
- The mentor replies to the student via their portal
- That message is copied to their teacher, the line manager of their mentor, and an audit file
- The message is received by the teacher who then reads the message and prints it out
- The student receives the message from their mentor on paper and then they respond.
