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FE9: An evaluation of the impact of an e-mentoring scheme introduced to 10 Level 3 childcare and education students within a College of Further Education
Author: Elaine Mattinson, Childcare Tutor, Bishop Auckland College, County Durham
Date: 2005

In an extension of FE8, the tutor investigated the impact of an e-mentoring system, where three Year 2 students used email to support seven Year 1 students, who were identified as being at risk of dropping out, to successfully complete their child observations and assessments. Data collection involved discussions with students and self-answer questionnaires to establish a baseline. Only one student withdrew from the course (for personal and financial reasons), which marks a significant improvement on previous years. The tutor feels that although this is not fully attributable to the e-mentoring, the positive nature of the project must have had an impact. Students have developed positive relationships with one another. They enjoyed chatting via email, but found the technical problems frustrating. E-mentoring has led to a repositioning of both teacher and learners within the learning experience.

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