Mentoring: Learning to Teach (with Technology?)

This post is part of a series examining research and theory on mentoring and coaching from the perspective of mentoring school videoconference coordinators.

Article Reference
Fairbanks, C. M., Freedman, D., & Kahn, C. (2000). The role of effective mentors in learning to teach. Journal of Teacher Education, 51(2), 102-112.

Note: This article is specifically about mentors in the process of learning to teach. But I wonder if the findings can apply to learning to teach with technology also? Let’s think about it!

Summary
The qualitative study focuses on mentoring relationship between the student teacher and the mentor teacher. The authors reference Britzman (1991) that learning to teach is a social process where the student teachers sort through the contradictions between the pedagogical knowledge they learned and the realities of teaching. The article also makes connections to Lave and Wenger (1991)’s situated learning and legitimate peripheral participation (which is a great model for the gradual taking over of teaching that happens during student teaching).

The major categories of assistance and mentoring that occurred during the student teacher / mentor teacher relationship are:

  • Helping student teachers survive their beginning teaching experiences and define their teaching lives
  • Establishing relationships based on dialogue and reflection (negotiation with each other, finding balance between leading and following, articulating craft knowledge)
  • Building professional partnerships (partnering to teach a lesson, developing new curriculum together)

They ended the relationship more as a team than as a mentor/student relationship.

Mentor Teacher Exposition
Mentor Teacher Exposition

Application to VC
So think with me just a wee bit about how this same process goes on as teachers learn a new technology, such as videoconferencing.

1.

The videoconference coordinator / site facilitator / VC champion, if she has a teaching background, often leads the lessons to begin with. The VC coordinator:

  • Chooses the program based on the teacher’s curriculum
  • Signs up for the teacher
  • Helps to prepare the students for the videoconference
  • Stays in the room during the videoconference to help run the camera and facilitate the dialogue

2.

Then, hopefully, the partnership moves to more dialogue and reflection. The VC coordinator:

  • Negotiates with the teacher and starts to encourage the teacher to participate in the process
  • Finds a balance between leading and following, starting to let the teacher take the lead
  • Articulates knowledge about VC: how to sign up, how to prepare students, how to use the remote to mute & use presets

3.

Finally, there is a professional partnership.

  • Teacher and VC coordinator plan lessons together
  • Teacher and VC coordinator create new curriculum (collaborative projects) together
  • The VC coordinator moves into a “supporting” role instead of a “promoting” role

Your Turn!

What do you think? Does this model apply? Which stage are YOU at with the teachers in your school? If you’re at the educational service agency, are you moving through these stages with your school level VC coordinators? Is anything missing at any of the stages?

Please comment! How are you mentoring your teachers in using VC in the curriculum?

Mentoring: Student Technology Mentors

This post is part of a series examining research and theory on mentoring and coaching from the perspective of mentoring school videoconference coordinators.

Article Reference
Butler, T., & Chao, T. (2001). Partners for change: Students as effective technology mentors. Active Learning in Higher Education, 2(2), 101-113.

Note:
This article described using university students as technology mentors for faculty. I realize this is a higher ed article, but I thought the lessons could still be applied. One of the elementary schools in our county uses students as technology helpers for teachers – making PPTs, assisting with the printer problems, etc. Could a school have a VC Team that helped teachers use VC? Something to think about!

Summary
The University of Alberta’s Arts Technologies for Learning Centre uses undergraduate and graduate students to work part-time as technology mentors. The faculty come to ask for assistance, and students are assigned to them to advise, guide and coach the instructors. The goal is to help the instructors feel more comfortable in using instructional technology. The benefits include growth for both the faculty member and the student. Sometimes the faculty ask for instructional design assistance beyond the level of the student; then the student consults with others to bring the necessary assistance to the faculty member.

The students must have technical and interpersonal skills to be selected, as well as the ability to learn quickly, listen well, and be patient.

The students benefit from increased technical skills, increased communication skills, and the benefit of thinking more about teaching and learning. The faculty were saitsfied with the services and the found the mentor support helpful.

The authors believe the success factors were:

  • An emphasis on change for the faculty, not just getting work done for them
  • Student mentors are from the same field as the faculty members
  • Respect for the students’ load
  • Student mentors who are willing to learn and innovate

Challenges included:

  • The student turnover rate
  • The need to provide an instructional strategies orientation for the student mentors

Implications for VC
Of course, K12 students are not college students or graduate students. However, let’s brainstorm some ways students could help teachers during a VC:

  • Dialing the far site; redialing if the call drops
  • Managing the microphone (muting/unmuting)
  • Managing the remote (camera presets)
  • Managing the visuals (document camera, computer, etc.)

How could students help teachers before a VC?

  • Could students help search for programs that are at a specific grade level, cover a specific topic, and are within a certain cost range?
  • Students could also help to gather the materials and props necessary for a VC.
  • Students could follow a checklist to make sure phone numbers, IP numbers, etc. were gathered for the event

Would it work best to have one student in each classroom trained to be a VC mentor?

Would it be better to have a team of students? Would they be able to leave class to help start a VC?

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Young students help teachers bring technology tools into their lessons. Credit: Edutopia

Some other models

What are some other ways mentoring relationships could be set up in K-12 schools?

Your Turn
What do you think of this idea? Can students provide some mentoring support to teachers in integrating videoconferencing in the curriculum? Have you tried any of these ideas in your school? Please comment!

Mentoring: Effectiveness for Mentors

This post is part of a series examining research and theory on mentoring and coaching from the perspective of mentoring school videoconference coordinators.

Article Reference
Allen, T. D., & Eby, L. T. (2003). Relationship effectiveness for mentors: Factors associated with learning and quality. Journal of Management, 29(4), 469-486.

Mentor Picture from Creative Commons @ Flickr

Summary
This study examined the mentor relationship from the mentor’s perspective. They received surveys from 249 mentors in the accounting and engineering professional fields. They found that in mentor pairs, perceived similarity between the mentor and protégé related significantly to mentorship quality and mentorship learning. They also found that the duration of the mentorship affected the importance of perceived similarity – it was more important in shorter mentorships than longer mentorships. Gender similarity was found to be not significantly related to mentorship quality and learning.

The authors reference Kram (1985) suggesting that a reward of mentorship is to shape the other person to see characteristics of themselves in that person. Mentors desire to create a mirror image of themselves to fulfill generativity needs. However, in a mentor relationship of  a longer duration, the perceived similarity is not as important for the mentor’s sense of benefit from the relationship.

Application to VC
As I read this article, particularly with it’s emphasis on the mentor learning from the protégé, I found myself thinking of those who mentored me, such as Sue Porter, co-founding mother of TWICE; Arnie Comer, who taught me how to run the ASK program for my schools. I thought about how I’ve mentored others (you know who you are!) in scheduling and organizational tips for videoconferencing, in the ASK program, in running projects for your schools. There’s also the mentoring the goes on in Jazz – in all directions! We are always learning new strategies, new training tips, new resources, new technology tools, new VC project formats from each other, whether new Jazz facilitators or old-timer lead facilitators.

All of my mentoring has been voluntary, which this study referred to as “informal.” Most (if not all) of my mentoring relationships result in more videoconferences for my schools. To me, this is a huge benefit of mentoring in my work. I’ll say it again: The more people you know, the more videoconferences you can do!

I learn from the people I mentor as well: new technology tools, new formats for projects, new ways to facilitate videoconferences, new ways to teach best practices to our schools.

I thought the perceived similarity part of the study was interesting. What similarities do I see in my mentors and mentees?

  • We all have a passion for education.
  • We’re all dedicated to bringing quality learning experiences to kids.
  • We all have a collaborative / giving / sharing spirit.
  • We all believe in constructivist learning.
  • We all believe in life-long learning – WE keep learning!
  • We all like to CREATE programs and events for kids.
  • Most of us are on Twitter and Skype. Ok I just had to throw that in! I’m sure no one has done a study on if twitter can be a communication vehicle for mentoring!!

These are also the characteristics that I want to see replicated in others, so that curriculum videoconferencing can be expanded throughout the world.

Your Turn
So, think about it! How are YOU mentoring others or being mentored? Is there another VC coordinator somewhere in your area or elsewhere that you’ve found during a collaborative project? Who can you continue to learn with & from?

The trick then, is to keep doing projects together, to VC and chat about how things are going once in a while, to ask questions such as “how do you do this or that”?

Please comment… how are you learning with others?

Mentoring: What's a Mentor, Anyway?

This post is part of a series examining research and theory on mentoring and coaching from the perspective of mentoring school videoconference coordinators.

Why?
It is my belief that the school videoconference coordinator is critical to the successful implementation of curriculum videoconferencing in the school. I also believe that it’s critical that the school videoconference coordinator have appropriate support so that they can be successful. I think that those of us at the educational service agency level can mentor and/or coach our videoconference coordinators. So this investigation into the research and theory on mentoring and coaching will hopefully inform and improve my own practice, and maybe yours too!

Article Reference
Mertz, N. T. (2004). What’s a Mentor, Anyway? Educational Administration Quarterly, 40(4), 541-560.

Summary
The article begins with an overwhelming and almost frustrating review of all the definitions of mentoring and various supporting relationships and bemoans the lack of consistently used definitions.

Next there is a review of research and theory on mentoring, showing that there are different kinds of supportive relationships, different levels of commitment on the mentor’s part, and varying benefits from the relationship. Theories of interpersonal relationships, such as social exchange theory, can help us understand how people behave in a mentoring relationship. There are different costs and benefits in the mentoring relationship.

So the authors propose a conceptual model for mentoring that includes two main concepts of intent and involvement. Intent is the perceived purpose of the activity and the involvement is the amount of time & effort required.

They also suggest distinguishing between career advancement mentoring and professional development mentoring. Clearly supporting VC coordinators fits into the professional development category.

The model starts at the bottom with the lowest level of involvement and the intent and expands the involvement and intent. The higher levels could also include the lower levels. The level of involvement is represented by the number, and the intent by the words in brackets.

  • Level 1: Role Model, Peer Pal, or Supporter (modeling)
  • Level 2: Teacher or Coach
  • Level 3: Counselor, Advisor, or Guide (professional development / advising)
  • Level 4: Sponsor or Benefactor
  • Level 5: Patron or Protector (career advancement / brokering)
  • Level 6: Mentor

Application to Videoconferencing: Intent
Hmm. So does this model help us think about how we support our school videoconferencing coordinators?

  • Role Model or Supporter. We are role models when we model best practice use of videoconferencing.
  • Teacher or Coach. We teach in training our VC coordinators how to schedule, how to participate in programs, projects, and events, how to find partners for collaborations, how to support teachers, and how to troubleshoot videoconferences.
  • Advisor or Guide. We informally assess their current skill, and help them learn the next skills. We provide them with tips & tricks for supporting VC in their school. We share strategies that have worked for us.
  • Broker. The broker levels of this model and article focus on “getting ahead” and advancing professionally. I don’t think this applies to this situation. Do you agree?

Application to Videoconferencing: Involvement

The article suggests that there are several levels of involvement and that some are easier for many people than others. How many videoconference coordinators do you support? I have 70 schools, so about 100 coordinators. Some schools have two teachers/educators sharing the responsibility, and I would include district technology coordinators in the list as well. How about you?

  • Levels 1 & 2. It takes time to give advice, provide guidance, and lead a friendly ear. Do you ever listen to your coordinators share their challenges in their school? I think this is an important role. It may not require much of an emotional investment to show concern and help a person through challenges and problems.
  • Levels 3 &4. At this level, the article has the educational advisor in mind and includes activities such as sharing information, monitoring progress, advising to gain tenure, etc. This type of formal commitment isn’t applicable to the situation of supporting videoconference coordinators. Still, it is important to share information and monitor the progress of our schools in implementing VC, and provide assistance where problems arise.
  • Levels 5 & 6. At this level, mentors use their networks and “reputation to support their proteges for advancement” and share power and influence. A higher level of trust is required and both parties share thoughts, understandings, and dreams. At this level, a mentor can only interact with a few at a time. As I think about my own videoconference coordinators, I can think of only a few where we talk often enough to approach this level. They call me to report on progress, to vent, and I nudge them to the next level of supporting VC, passing off more and more responsibility for test calls, scheduling etc. This could be stretched to mean advancement, but not strictly as the article describes.

Your Turn
So, now that we’ve both learned a bit more about what mentoring really means, think about your videoconference coordinators (or your teachers if you are supporting VC in your school). At what level are you coaching/mentoring them? Did some new ideas pop into your head of how you could support them? Please comment!

More Virtual NECC Goodies

Here’s my last set of snippets from virtually attending NECC 09:

Thanks to everyone who blogged (and will still blog) about their learning at NECC for those of us at home!

After this, a serious July studying! Which will mean two new series of posts applying communication research and mentoring research to videoconferencing.

Virtual NECC: ISTE Vision

This morning I found ISTE Vision and watched the debate while following the comments on Twitter. THAT was really fun! Lots of comments about change in instructional pedagogy whether online or in a physical location. I *think* it will be on ISTE Vision later so you can watch it if you missed it. Here are a few screenshots – the view from my office….

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Robert Siegel, from NPR’s All Things Considered, moderated the panel.

09-06-30necc2

A view of the full panel.

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Gary Stager delivers pithy punches amid applause.

It was great to be part of something big all happening at once, with interesting concise commentary on Twitter.

Virtual NECC Goodies for Monday

As I catch up on Twitter and blogs & Virtual NECC this morning, a few snippets stand out:

Looking forward to more snippets throughout the day!

What are YOU learning at or from NECC 09? Are you sharing in some form?

Virtually Following NECC Part 2

There are other ways that I’m planning to virtually follow what’s going on at NECC this year.

Twitter

I set up two searches in TweetDeck for following NECC.

  • One search for NECC related things: “NECC OR NECC09 OR NECC2009”
  • Another for the SIGIVC hashtag: NECCIVC

Also you may want to follow these people that I know are into VC and are tweeting and going to NECC.

Blogs

Virtual NECCers on Ning

  • There’s a group inside the NECC Ning for those participating virtually. Check it out!

Who did I miss? Please comment if you know someone blogging or tweeting about VC at NECC.

Virtually Following NECC Part 1

This year I can’t attend NECC due to a family conflict, so I’ll be trying to catch a taste of the action online. I thought I’d start today with a list of IVC and videoconferencing related sessions that I could find on the schedule.

H323 Videoconferencing (I think)

Skype Sessions

Other Videoconferencing
In these session descriptions, I can’t tell what VC technology they are using.

Did I miss any? If so, please comment and I’ll update the list!