Student mentoring – Two approaches from Development and Society

1. Student mentoring – Two approaches from Development and Society Jon Inns and Julia Myers 7 May 2008

2. Two mentoring schemes • Digital Fluency mentoring project • small scale project to determine scalability and develop training package • student2student: Professional mentoring programme (aimed at teacher education students • integrated into the programme, building on previous experience and in three parts

3. What is Digital Fluency? • "Digital Literacy is the awareness, attitude and ability of individuals to appropriately use digital tools and facilities to identify, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, analyse and synthesize digital resources, construct new knowledge, create media expressions, and communicate with others, in the context of specific life situations, in order to enable constructive social action; and to reflect upon this process" http://www.elearningeuropa.info • 'The world is becoming increasingly digital and this is profoundly affecting how we learn and live. Those who do not have access to this digital world and those who cannot use digital tools to become independent learners and explorers of new ideas will be at a distinct disadvantage as learners'. Madigan (2006) • ..or put more simply Digital Fluency is - the attitudes, skills and attributes we all need to live, learn and work in the 21st Century.

4. Why is it important? • Digital skills will be vital to enable individuals to function in the global economy of the 21st Century. • Addressing our capability to develop these skills is likely to have a profound impact on the competitiveness of SHU and the employability of our graduates.

5. What does it mean for students? • Employability • Digital fluency will be a core skill for life and a fundamental part of the skills profile required by employers. To future proof these skills we will need to concentrate on higher level fluencies not just specific skills or software applications. • Improving student performance on their course and as autonomous learners. • Digitally fluent students 'master content faster, are better problem solvers, become more self-directed and assume greater control over their own learning'. (Katz) • Improved research skills. Students will be better able to access and analyse information using a variety of digital output formats. • Increased ability to think critically, interpret information from a range of digital formats and make informed judgements.

6. Aims of the project • This project aims to provide new opportunities for students in developing their digital fluency skills. • By changing who delivers that support (student rather than staff) where it is delivered (hubs not learning centres) and the focus (holistic support for DF not fragmented) we aim to bring about improvement in the skills and confidence of students to utilise digital resources to support their learning. • The project aims to deliver a collaborative approach to developing a student resource to support the digital fluency needs of staff and students within the new D&S Learning Hubs base.

7. Aims of the project • Develop a training agenda for DF Mentors • Develop student mentoring/coaching skills and breakdown student barriers within the D&S Learning Hub • Recruit/support and monitor the work and effectiveness of the Mentors • Evaluate for scalability • Share lessons learnt with faculty and other support providers

8. Progress to date • Eight mentor volunteers • Mentor training sessions delivered collaboratively • Specific student cohorts targeted with support of Tutors • Six mentoring relationships operating • Close linkages to modules and assessment

9. Initial observations • (Some) benefits • improved confidence, new digital skills and ways of thinking, a safe environment to develop these skills • Challenges • recruiting student volunteers as mentors and mentees • Opportunities • opportunities for part time, distance learning and International students • Full evaluation conducted over summer

10. student2studentMentoring via • discussion board – general forum • drop-in sessions • 1:1 emailing Targeted at Year 1 students (2006-7)

11. student2studentBackground Primary and Early Years Education with QTS 3 year course Block placements each year: Year 1 (4 weeks- May/June) Year 2 (5 weeks - May/June) Year 3 (7 weeks – Jan-Mar)

12. student2studentPhase 1 (2006-7) focused on Year 1 students Evaluation: 137 questionnaires completed by Year 1 mentees 101 (74%) reported some use of student2student services

13. student2studentEvaluation (2006-7) 36 (26%) reported no use of student2student services – due to: • lack of need (25) • lack of awareness of services (4) • lack of adequate/clear information about services (4) • drop-in busy at time of use (1) • lack of home internet access (1)

14. student2studentEvaluation (2006-7) Use of discussion board

17. student2studentEvaluation (2006-7) discussion board 87 of 137 respondents reported looking at discussion board common terms used to describe discussion board: "helpful" "helped" "help" (22) "useful" (32.)

18. student2studentEvaluation (2006-7) ..valuable to see others experiencing similar problems discussion board ...eased the stress of placement It was useful in giving me other people's answers to the questions I had and in showing me other people who were struggling the 3rd years' knowledge and experience of the course was shown in their responses and really helped out. really useful to have the option to speak to students that are going through the same thing as you are

19. student2studentEvaluation (2006-7) drop-in sessions 27 (out of 137) had attended drop-in sessions.

20. student2studentEvaluation (2006-7) drop-in sessions made things clear. Built up confidence before going on placement helpful useful good for getting ideas for teaching" I was offered advice on anything I questioned and that gave me more confidence when beginning placement useful to get ideas to try for placement

21. Mentors' views • Value of provision: "reassurance" in terms of ideas, organisation and procedures useful for the students as they could ask even the smallest question... allowed good practice to be shared

22. Gains for mentors • confidence – self belief in knowledge and ability to communicate information to other students • gained more ideas and teaching points • made me reflect on my teaching a little more

23. Improvements for 2007-8 • Introduction of mentors to mentees earlier in the year • Introduction of student2student discussion board from September • More open/accessible venues for drop-in sessions • Expansion of 1:1 emailing • Training offered to mentors • More focused evaluation of benefit for mentors

24. Use of student2student discussion board To date: 162 threads; 683 postings Used for • Requests for information/advice • Expressions of stress/worry/negative experience

25. student2student Use of discussion board Requests for information/advice referencing course related information eg dates and times; loans; degree classifications; elective content; tasks; procedure professional documentation terminology specific modules planning for placement Expressions of stress/worry/ negative experience

27. A mentor's response: This is the place to come when your feeling like this. We have all been there. Believe me many times I have wanted to drop out of this course because it felt like too much to cope with alongside personal issues. But im so glad I stuck it out. The placements might feel like too much on top of uni work but they are where you learn the most about being a teacher. If you feel like you dont like your teaching style adopt other teachers styles. Wacth any teacher you are with and steal any of their good ideas to use in your own teaching. That is how I have developed my style. As for feeling that you are not doing as well as you want in assignments, bear in mind that the more you do the more you will improve just from practise. You could also talk to student services to get some guidance. Talk to your friends that are getting the scores you want and find out how they are getting there. Try working with someone to plan an essay then go off and do it alone then read each others to check it meets the criteria.

28. Another response in terms of time mangement and organisation, dont spend endless stressful hours on uni work.... allocate time to do it, and get as much as u can done within that time. Use "free" time between sessions to do post session tasks and my advice is to keep on top of them because the last thing u want to do is leave it till the end and double stress out(i did this last year in it was hectic!!)... also allocate time to spend away from uni work, even if it means havin a coffee and biscuit and lookin into thin air!!.... i know its not much help but its just possible  suggestions to help u organise things and stop u from goin crazzzzy!!

29. Looking forwards to 2008/09 • Draw both mentoring programmes together • Clear communication and accessibility • Timing important, dependent on student cycle • Relevance to students • potential mentees do not want to be seen as needing remedial support • Course wide tutor support • Benefits for mentors to be explored further