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Statewide Electronic Mentoring Expansion Initiative and the Novice Teacher Support Project (NTSP)

Statewide Electronic Mentoring Expansion Initiative and the Novice Teacher Support Project (NTSP). Cari Klecka Renee T. Clift University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. What is e-mentoring?. Web-based conversations among new and experienced teachers.

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Statewide Electronic Mentoring Expansion Initiative and the Novice Teacher Support Project (NTSP)

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  1. Statewide Electronic Mentoring Expansion Initiative and the Novice Teacher Support Project(NTSP) Cari Klecka Renee T. Clift University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  2. What is e-mentoring? • Web-based conversations among new and experienced teachers. • Access to conversations controlled by an e-mentoring coordinator. • Top-level grouping of conversations controlled by an e-mentoring coordinator. • Lower level topics within conversations controlled by participants.

  3. Logging In

  4. NTSP E-conferences

  5. Loyola E-Conferences

  6. Participant Initiated Discussions

  7. How E-mentoring Works in the NTSP • Training for e-mentors. • Initial and continuing face-to-face meetings with new and experienced teachers. • Group mentoring in grade levels monitored by facilitators and e-mentoring coordinator. • Presenter-led discussions tied to workshops. • Conversations added by request. • Discussions initiated by participants and stimulated by the curriculum for discussions.

  8. What is the NTSP? • Focus on professional development • Focus on building a cross institutional community to support teaching and learning • UIUC • 2-Regional Offices of Education • Over twenty school districts • Website http://ntsp.ed.uiuc.edu

  9. Why not traditional mentors? • Varying size of school districts • Twenty+ collective bargaining units • Desire to match for content area expertise • Promotion of ongoing dialogue among diverse viewpoints • Ease of access

  10. E-Mentoring Advantages • Provides teachers who work in districts of widely varying sizes access to teachers who teach similar content or at the same grade level. • Facilitates multiple perspectives on shared practices in variety of contexts. • Provides a reasonably safe place for new teachers to share their concerns without fear of reprisal. • Allows mentoring to cross district boundaries.

  11. What We Learned in the Pilot Year* • Technological expertise is distributed. • E-conferencing is more than hardware and software. • Online interaction devoid of face-to-face interaction is not be enough. • Initial face-to-face training is crucial. • Additional face-to-face meetings are helpful. *Details published in Klecka, C.L., Clift, R.T. & Thomas, A.S. (2002). Proceed with Caution: Introducing electronic conferencing in teacher education, Critical Issues in Teacher Education, 9, 28-36.

  12. What We Have Learned Since the Pilot Year • People are interested in hearing the voice of an “expert” on specific issues. • Participants need an incentive to break traditional habits for seeking support and to overcome time constraints. • Even though e-mentors view their role as to help new teachers, they feel they are learning as much if not more than the new teachers. • Novice teachers are frequently peripheral participants. They read significantly more messages than they post.

  13. Based on our experiences, how does one encourage meaningful participation? • Articulate clear goals, purposes, and expectations for participation. • Determine participants who will initiate discussions without disallowing initiation from others. • Establish an ever-changing curriculum for discussion. • Institute incentives and/or requirements to encourage participants to attend (at least one) face-to-face session(s) and to initially engage in conversations online. • Consider safety within the online context taking into account variables such as face-to-face meetings, the degree of anonymity, trust, and how participants can gain confidence in and through participation.

  14. Cautions about Participation • Safety • The personal interacting with the medium • Mistakes/human error • Trust • That the time investment will pay off • Implicit trust in the intentions of online colleagues and the project • Confidence • Safety, trust, and confidence dependent on the degree of anonymity

  15. Important questions to consider… • What is the purpose for using e-mentoring? • Who is the target audience? • What is the project infrastructure? • How is the support structure conceptualized? • Human • Technical

  16. Our team/Your Team? • Currently at UIUC • Faculty advisor • Systems administrator • Project coordinator/ online moderator • In-house webmaster • Programmer • We are advising at least… • Project coordinator/online moderator • Technology coordinator • Project Advisor

  17. Working together… • Create a timeline for development and implementation. • Create a conceptual roadmap beginning with goals, purposes, audience, etc… to site. structure, policies and procedures, etc… • Determine roles and responsibilities. • Create site. • Begin implementation. • Conduct ongoing internal evaluations.

  18. Questions for us? • Renee T. Clift rtclift@uiuc.edu • Cari Klecka klecka@uiuc.edu

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