Mentoring Online

04/01/2003

"One is never so easily fooled as when one thinks one is fooling others."
–La Rochefoucauld

MENTORING ONLINE

The March 3, 2003 issue of BusinessWeek Online (www.businessweek.com) contained a story about how busy professionals with a desire to help children are now mentoring children online. They use a growing number of online mentoring programs that match high school students with adults working in careers of interest to them. With e-mentoring, instead of getting together with someone in person, say, once a week, you meet electronically. Many companies participate in about 70 e-mentoring programs, says the National Mentoring Partnership (mentoring.org) in Alexandria, Va.

The approaches vary. Career advice is the mission of icouldbe.org. You fill out a personal profile on a Web page; students who want to find out more about what you do contact you with questions. The 10-year-old Electronic Emissary Project (emissary.ots.utexas.edu) asks mentors to indicate an area of expertise. Then, when teachers and students need help with a classroom project, they contact an expert. The relationship may last from a few weeks to three years. Cyber-Sisters.org, based in Eugene, Ore., matches middle-school girls with women professionals. Each pair works together for eight weeks on a science or technology project. Although most of their contact is via e-mail, many teams meet in the beginning and make a joint presentation at the end.

Because privacy and security are important, communications usually go through to a central site, where a staff member monitors messages or filtering software looks for telltale inappropriate phrases or words. Generally, you can't exchange last names or addresses. You also can expect each site to run a criminal background check when you sign up.

Mentoring was the topic of Beginnings Workshop in the January 2003 issue of Child Care Information Exchange. This training resource included articles on mentoring teachers, children, advocates, and parents. To order this back issue, click here.

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.