June 2, 2008, by Teaching at Nottingham

E-learning mentor as facilitator

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Interviewer: “Looking at the fourth role of the mentor, the mentor as a facilitator, how did that take shape in the groups you worked with?”

Do Coyle: “With regard to the mentor as a facilitator, I think that really was to do with understanding the needs of the ePioneer group that you were working with and then, standing back and looking at what existing networks might also help and support the implementation of the individual projects.”

Gordon Joyes: “The other skill we were looking for were people who clearly were going to be able to listen to people, and would be able to network people with other people. So they knew, perhaps, people around the school and/or the University who could direct the groups that they were working to, to University Support, because we didn’t want to be in a position where we were setting up the support network within the school that was actually repeating what else was actually out there.

“There’s lots of support out there for WebCT. So it was a matter of saying – finding out what stage people were at, and trying to get some of their problems solved for them by putting them in touch with the right people in the Learning Team, but also helping them articulate the right sort of questions.”

Rolf Wiesemes: “Where he was also very good was facilitating between the podcasting and my vodcasting project.

“And I would have talked to Richard and Jane anyway, but, what was really useful there was sometimes having all four of us sitting around the same table, and talking about what we were doing, but having Mike coming in and, in a way, establishing links that, necessarily, we didn’t see.”

Gordon: “What we were trying to do was help people know how to help themselves, to work within our culture, to respect them as professionals within their own areas, to then put them in contact with people in ways that they probably couldn’t do themselves.

“So they would then feel confident about then continuing to solve those problems, and also being able to share that advice and that approach with other people.”

Authors:

Extracts from interviews with staff who are starting to use technology in their teaching, and those who are mentoring them. This video was originally published as part of PESL’s ePioneers collection. Produced June 2008.

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