GEN: Virtual Mentors

[Joy McGregor <joymal@GTE.NET>]

To anyone interested in giving something back to the profession:

Each year I set up a virtual mentoring program for a school
librarianship class at Texas Woman's University (Librarians as
Instructional Partners). I'm looking for people again to serve as
virtual mentors. Since we talk about partnerships, forming a
partnership online proves to be a valuable learning experience,
providing a real practitioner to bounce ideas off and allowing students
to interpret theory in terms of reality.

What's involved, you ask? This mentorship involves one assignment
directly, which requires students to discuss with their virtual partner
some educational issues that impact resource-based learning, information
literacy,  and the entire school library program. The mentor's task will be
to provide a real-world scenario of what is happening or could happen
in his/her situation. The students determine the issues to ask you about
by examining journals directed at teachers, administrators, and school
librarians.

Anything else? There is no other assignment specifically requiring students
to discuss something else with their partners, but they will be encouraged
to maintain a conversation with you about any elements of the class that
they find puzzling, intriguing, exciting, frightening, challenging, etc. The
more regular the contact, the greater the value. Some partners in previous
classes have continued contact beyond the semester, because they found
the partnership to be mutually beneficial. This continuation, of course, is
independent of the course and must be agreed to by both parties.

And what else is required? During the semester all mentors will also be
invited to become involved with occasional class discussion questions.
The amount of your involvement with this aspect is your own personal
decision. We welcome your ideas, but realize that you might not have
time to become involved in these discussions to a great extent.

All virtual mentor activity will take place either through your regular
email or within a courseware package called Blackboard. Mentors will
be given user names and passwords to access our course site and special
forum areas will be set up for the whole group discussions. All you
will need is Internet access and email to participate in the virtual
mentor program.

If you are a media specialist in a flexibly scheduled library, or one who is
working towards that goal, and if curriculum-integrated, collaboratively
planned resource-based learning is a priority with you, I'd love to hear from
you. Students will choose their mentors from among the volunteers. They
tend to choose based on similar grade levels and types of schools and
communities. In your response to me, please tell me something about
(1) yourself, (2) your school,  (3) your school district, (4) your
students, and (5) your library. That will give them some facts on which
to base their choices.

Please do not volunteer if you don't plan to follow through. It is very
disheartening for students to continually report that their virtual mentor
does not respond to their messages, especially when other students are so
excited about their conversations with their mentors.

The first class meets on Jan. 29. I will post your responses on Blackboard
(which is a secure website, only accessible with passwords) for them to
read. You could expect to hear from them via regular email within
the following week or two, introducing themselves.

For more information about the class and the virtual mentor program, check
out the class homepage, at http://venus.twu.edu/~f_mcgregor/partners
which includes guidelines for students and mentors.

Thanks to all of you!  I know you'll once again provide wonderful
stimulation for the students' thinking.

Joy McGregor
joymal@gte.net
School of Library and Information Studies
Texas Woman's University

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