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October 1, 2002
Mentored learning: the Instructor's View
By Susan Bodnik
There has been a lot of buzz in the E-learning industry about "mentored learning." Over 66% of E-learning companies say they offer it. But what do those words "mentored learning" actually mean? As an instructor and the instructor coordinator for an online-learning company, I thought it would be worthwhile to share our view of what "mentored learning" means from an instructor's perspective.
Interesting, rewarding and challenging
First, working as an online instructor is interesting, rewarding and challenging. It is interesting because it allows me to develop relationships with people from all over the world. I have worked with students from Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, Pakistan, and the list goes on. It is rewarding because I work closely with students, guiding their learning and helping them in their quest for knowledge. And it is challenging because students sometimes ask questions that are not easy to answer. More often than not, these questions have to do with some aspect of our instruction that we have not previously considered as ways of seeing our materials in a new light, from a student's perspective. These questions help me to grow in my understanding, so I learn new things even as I seek answers to the student inquiries.
Building the student-teacher relationship over distance
My role as an online instructor makes the student-instructor relationship quite different from conventional classroom ways of interacting. The instructor-student relationship in the classroom is a restricted one and is mostly confined to the time spent in the classroom where most students have very limited direct interaction with the instructor. The lesson as "one-to-many," a limited number of questions as "one-to-one-heard-by-all' and the brief personal comments before and after the lecture make up all of what a group meeting at a blackboard can accomplish. Online learning provides a much richer environment for exchange of information and ideas, because comments can be stored, shared and filtered far more effectively by students on an as-needed basis.
Building student confidence at a distance
Students who feel uneasy asking questions in a classroom (over 40-percent, by most polls) will ask a question by Email. Issues of "too easy" or "known by everyone else" or "too personal" are diminished when the question stays between student and instructor as an Email exchange. The many concerns of "too confrontational" or "stupid" are also relaxed when only the two parties are privy to the exchange. Then, if the issue is a general one, both the question and the answer can be tailored and edited and made available as useful information to the whole class. Even more important, it can be crafted for specific groups within the class in ways no physical meeting of any group ever permits. In this online model, students' comments are more relevant and the instructors' answers are more cogent because of the time each has to frame and reply to the issue before it becomes public, for everyone's judgment. From the perspective of other members, these shared student-instructor Email interchanges are much more valuable because of the editing component. They are perceived as more relevant in content (usually because they are!) and as closer to the subject matter than the more random, less considered classroom exchanges.
Providing student support at the right time
Students in an online course also have the advantage of being able to ask for help as they need it. Students may need assistance to complete an assignment - this often happens in the XML authoring course (PXA) that I instruct. Students may find that they are puzzled by a particular problem that is preventing them from completing the assignment. Here, an Email to the instructor gets the guidance needed to successfully complete the assignment. Email inquiries are handled quickly, in the context of the student's working time, and they allow students to complete their work with less frustration and fewer delays. There is no equivalent to this direct interaction in the conventional classroom. Imagine it, if you will, as the help you received in junior grades by the teacher moving around the desks, responding to raised hands as each member needed an immediate answer, or maybe just giving encouragement to carry on with a good idea.
So, while a first glance might indicate that the physical distance of online instruction would render help less accessible, in fact the opposite is true. Students take "lessons" on their own time and then receive help across the working day on an as-needed basis, rather than sitting in a group for a few hours in the hopes of receiving relevant information, with very limited ability to ask questions or receive personal help. There is no need to wait until the next class session, because the student controls the timing and duration of the lesson by doing it, while enhanced access to the instructor greatly assists members who need help at any stage, on an individual basis.
My Typical Week
Another way to understand mentored learning is to take a closer look at where my time is spent. Although this is not an exact science, I've listed my major tasks with the average amount of time spent on each. These numbers are sometimes increased but seldom fall below the average I have given. The bulk of my efforts are spent on marking assignments and student inquiries. Other areas includeýwell, you'll see below.
Marking Assignments - 16 hours
Receiving feedback on assignments is the single most critical benefit for our students, according to the online surveys we conduct during each session. These comments help students identify most specifically where they might need to improve to meet the standards required for work at a professional level. Each student is different and has individual needs. Some students might start with a strong background in the subject matter, while others have weaker skills. No two are alike, even among partners from companies who arrange to take the course together. We encourage that diversity and find ways to get members to work and learn together from their respective strengths. Assignments help students to not only read about a topic, but then also to complete a task related to the new information. This is their first opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the course content under supervision of an instructor to guide their progress. I believe that this guidance, at the stage where the learner asks for it directly, is crucial to success in learning new skills.
Student Inquiries - 12 hours
I receive many inquiries from students as they need assistance with course software or as they have questions related to completing their assignments. I encourage these members to send me their assignment in progress so that I can guide them and help them to identify the specific areas where they can't proceed further. This guidance is particularly helpful in PXA, since learning all the intricacies of XML may seem overwhelming at first. The success rates we enjoy are, in large part, the result of this intervention in time to build morale and beat a sense of frustration and failure. Maintaining Email contact with the students is a very enjoyable part of my work, and I rate it the most significant feature of our maintaining that important human contact at the core of mentored learning.
Among the ranges of inquiries, some issues are easily resolved; others require detailed study to find a solution. The ones I (usually!) like best are questions I've never encountered before. "How could we have missed that?!" "Who'd have thought of that one?!" And, since I am the instructor, I must always find a solution. In PXA, because I make a point of encouraging students to send me their assignments-in-progress, I'm always assured of a fresh supply of new glitches. Creating DTDs and stylesheets is quite difficult for everyone in the beginning, and we've come to anticipate and allow for extra help each time a section reaches that point. We now have a great deal of experience and much tutorial material on these issues, and we make these available in edited forms to each new class. Still, the concepts require real work and there is no single 'lesson' that fits all minds. So we "capture" good examples, clear and intriguing explanations, and expressions and reuse them in subsequent classes. This is an important part of my work and is one of the most sophisticated instructional duties I perform. Those student questions now often receive a surprisingly swift response, because I recall a similar situation, a question rather like this one now, and I respond with an answer I've given, and then discussed, on a previous occasion.
The amount of my time each student needs varies greatly. Some students work with little support, pacing themselves and seeking out answers from Web resources. Others prefer to work with like-minded peers, in groups, using Email (and we don't forbid them the phone!), chats and shared workspace. The rest are in touch to varying degrees, seeking encouragement and looking for suggestions on how to proceed at frequent stages. The world is made up of all kinds, and our job is to gauge them and integrate them to learn from new forms and among their peers.
Weekly Comments - 2 hours
Another important part of my job is sending weekly instructor's comments to all students. The instructor's comments provide hints and tricks for assignments, links to relevant web sites and reminders for Web chats and assignment due dates. When working in an online course, it is easy to put the work aside and work on other tasks that are more "visible" - the instructor's comments help to remind students of what they should be doing each week and to help them stay on track with the course.
Web Chats - 2 hours
Several Web chats are scheduled during the course. These Web chats allow students to meet and to "speak" to each other, providing more human contact - a challenging task in an online environment! Scheduling chats can be a problem because of the many different time zones involved. However, I have had students log on at 5 AM or at midnight so that they could attend a chat! Chats generally run for 1 hour.
Discussion Groups - 2 hours
Discussion groups are another important feature in an online course. The discussion group allows students to share ideas and to post questions. I encourage students to post inquiries to the discussion group to allow other students to benefit from the dialogue, since other students may also face a similar challenge. In my experience, most students prefer to ask questions privately by Email. All student inquiries are answered quickly, whether in the discussion group or by Email.
Reviewing Articles - 4 hours
In an effort to keep the course fresh, I incorporate up-to-date information into the curriculum. My company strongly believes that keeping current is a crucial ingredient to a good class. That being said, I spend roughly 4 hours a week with my three R's. Reviewing, Reading, and Researching. I also have my students participate in this exercise. Part of the 'Professional XML Authoring' course is to have students review the latest in XML technology and to post a summary to a class message board. This is done throughout the class, and often sparks some very interesting conversation!
Course Administration - 2 hours
Course administration duties include the boring stuff; such as starting new classes, updating student information, coordinating schedules, etc...
Evaluation and Change - ongoing
I must constantly evaluate our courses. ("1-800- How's my Teaching?" might be a good slogan). And it's in these responses that we get our clearest insights on ways to improve our courses. Students fill out online evaluations at the end of the course. We use this feedback to make continual course upgrades so that the courses reflect the needs of the students in immediate ways. A significant portion of my work time is given over to these improvements, so we seldom "redo" a course with a major overhaul. Rather, each session provides new materials and current Web information so incoming students receive a currency through all parts of their instruction which is seldom present in much other online instruction.
Conclusion to "my typical week"
This is a busy - and very rewarding - schedule, but one which I control as I could not the Monday-Wednesday-Friday routine of a classroom. I can emphasize the areas of my greatest effectiveness and respond to areas of greatest need on a flexible schedule of my making. I like it.
Mentoring Summed Up
What does mentored learning mean to me as an online instructor? It means that I have the opportunity to interact with people from around the globe. I guide these students through their learning journey. That journey is rough for some, smooth for others, but rewarding for all because they contribute in ways they see valued at all stages of its progress. I receive my greatest satisfaction when students say "Wow, I finally did it!"
I think that working under the mentored learning model is the best of both worlds for the students and for me. Students benefit from swift responses to their needs and a personalized, individual approach to learning. I benefit from daily exchanges with students that make me so current with my field that I'm often getting information, directly and from students on the day that it appears on the Web. It's hard to get more current than that - barely even time to report it in a classroom!
The Mentoring Effect
Student success is my success, and I want students to finish the course with a feeling of accomplishment. When I first started teaching PXA the course had a low completion rate. Students would run into difficulties and, as these compounded, would give up. Now that I encourage students having problems to send me their work, the completion rate is much higher, some 40% higher than similar completion rates in university equivalent courses. Assignments are not only marked and returned expeditiously We try for a 2- to 4-day return rate in our marking; some courses don't even meet within that brief of a time frame! This re-prioritizing of our resources has made a large difference in results: students succeed, they learn and they finish; morale is very high and they come to understand their results in shorter sequences, with better insights.
Email: Susan Bodnik is an online education instructor and instructor coordinator at online-learning.com.
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