Third Reflection

 Third Reflection

The feedback I received from the last adobe session focused on:

(1)   The suggestions that I should also include a collaborative blog for mentees and mentors

(2)  That students could use the blog to include the study tips

(3)  Questions arose about what would motivate students to be part of this programme?

(4)  Questions also arose about the affordance of the cell phone? And how it would be used?

(5)  Questions arose about what information could be posted on the cell phone?

These questions and suggestions probed me to think more deeply about how I will use the Blog and IM. It was very useful as it helped me to organise my prototype more effectively, to think deeply about the affordances of the tools and to improve the communication between myself as the lecturer and the students.

·         First, the a blog will be used between myself and the mentors as on- going training and reflection about the mentoring and how the first year students are coping with the various skills they need to cope in their first year. Every week I will post questions relating to for example, report writing or referencing in order to coach students about what aspects to highlight in their conversations with mentees.

·         I will assign a Head Mentor to oversee a collaborative blog between mentors and mentees where they (mentors and mentees) are allowed to post on various issues that come up as they are engaging with academic life. This may be academic aspects such as how to approach lecturers for a consultation, the lecturers’ teaching styles and expectations, tips on how to study effectively for test and how to approach assignments. The socials aspects that mentors and mentees encounter such as, coping with peer pressure, resident life, travelling long distances and financial issues should also be commented on in the blog. Students will be allowed to find you tube videos on topics and post images.

·         Mentors will stay in contact with mentees via the cell phone. They will be allowed to use MXit, What’s App, BBM and should form groups on these application. The cell phone would be used as motivational tool and as a form of social presence. I will encourage mentors and mentees to use the emoticons on IM platform. Mentors will send encouraging messages to mentors and encourage them to persevere, stay focused and adopt strategies to solve problems. As Sonja suggested they will use IM to set up meetings.  

·         The affordances of the tool would thus be that IM would serve as a motivational tool between mentors and mentees. I do not want to overload this tool with academic content as the blog would be used for those purposes. Rather the IM would deal with the affective issues that students encounter as their engage with their studies. This tool should be very effective in the mentoring process and could deal with the social issue which is quite crucial in mentoring first year students.

·         Mentors and mentees do not always have time to meet face to face and have difficulty maintaining contact with mentees. IM would thus circumvent the time constraints and enable more contact between mentors and mentees. Previous mentors informed me about the ‘nightshift’ available form some networks. Mentors could stay in contact via IM after twelve if they prefer, it is much cheaper and sometimes more convenient for some students.

·         I also want mentors to stay in weekly contact with me via IM.I will pose one or two crucial questions about the mentoring process, e.g. what did you like/not like about your discussions today? What aspect of your relationship is really going well? What is not working at all? The purpose of the discussion is to get regular feedback about the mentoring processes and relationships rather than the actual socio-academic issues as the blog will deal with those issues. I am also interested in the nature of IM and its impact on e-mentoring.

·         Motivation to be part of this programme? Students will be asked to volunteer to be part of the six week e-mentoring programme. I will also ask lecturers to suggest suitable students. This will be part of an enrichment or student leadership programme. Mentors will be paid through the ‘Workstudy’ fund of the university. They will also get a certificate if they complete the six week programme.

Second Reflection

SECOND REFLECTION: CHEC COURSE

What learning problems have you decide to address?

·         My programme addresses students socialization into the learning and pedagogical processes of university life. I will focus on the academic and social skills students need to succeed at University. I would like to focus on e-mentoring as a vehicle to assist students with the transition from high school to university.

What activity have you decided to develop?

·         I decided to develop an e-mentoring programme which will focus on various skills students would need to engage with academic life such as time management, report writing, referencing, reading skills and examination preparation. The e-mentoring programme will also focus on aspects such as students’ aspiration, their navigational capacity at the university and non-institutional factors that influence student engagement (Yosso, 2005 and Zepke and Leach 2011).

What tool have you selected and why?

·         Blog

I decided to use the blog as it enables students to engage with various topics that will improve their academic skills and knowledge. Students will be able to read, view videos and write reflections on each topic. The blog is accessible and students are able to post videos, pictures and texts. They will gain confidence in posting their own views and stating an opinion. They will also be able to view other students work and comment and engage in discussion.

·         Cellular Phones. SMS or MXit,

I will also use the cellular phone via SMS or MXit as a form of communication and to emphasize social presence awareness Kekwaltelswe (2007) between mentors, mentees and myself.  She referred to mobile learning support as a form of ‘social presence awareness’. She suggests that social awareness is a mental concept where a learner becomes aware of the social network that follows him or her while moving across the different learning contexts. Mentors will send SMS which will focus on how they felt about their interaction with their mentees, what they have learnt from their mentees and what ideas they shared with their mentees. The SMS and MXit serves as a tool to provide students with the affective support needed in a mentoring relationship.

·         What are the affordances of this tool?

The blog’s affordances are functional, cognitive and sensory (Hartson, 2003). Students will be able to use the blog for specific purposes and it will be used as a communication tool between lecturer and students.  The cognitive affordance of this tool would enable students to engage in activities where they are required to reflect on various topics and answer questions related to academic learning. The sensory affordances of the blog relates to the visual information such as the video and slide share presentation, pictures that students are allowed to post on the blog. (Hartson, 2003).

The cellular phone will be used to communicate between mentors, mentees and the lecturer and provides fast effective and immediate interaction between students.  A key part of the e-mentoring programme is effective communication between mentors and mentees. Mentors experienced problems such as insufficient time for mentoring, hesitancy to ask personal or difficult questions, they struggle to maintain contact between them and their mentees during the conventional face to face mentoring. Mentors will be required to interact with the lecture weekly via SMS or MXit in order to reflect on their mentoring experience.

·         How well do the affordances of this tool match the learning needs?

Students need to be initiated into the academic culture by understanding the needs and expectations of academic learning. The e-mentoring programme will address the academic skills and knowledge students need in order to succeed. They should also become familiar with the social context in which they are learning by engaging with the campus environment and culture. At the same time they need to understand how their own personal contexts and identity impact on their learning.     

Students will be able to express what they learn, how they learn and why they learn on the blog which will be accessed anywhere on or off campus. The blog tool is easy to manipulate and is an online space where will also give students the ‘voice’ they need to engage with their own learning and the courage to contribute. The blog will focus on students’ aspiration and engagement on campus and the non-institutional factors that influence learning. This will allow the lecturer to engage with the students’ personal learning contexts and the institutional contexts in which they learn.

·         Theoretical departure points in the research or teaching

I will employ aspects of Margaret Archer’s (2003) theoretical position on structure and agency, specifically what she calls  ‘modes of reflexivity’ (2007) to show how students are able to act independently and to make their own choices and take particular stances towards their learning. Agency’, refers to the ability of individuals to act independently and to make their own choices. Reflexivity can be understood as the active process of engagement of individuals within their social circumstances. (Archer, 2003). I will use Zekpe and Leach’s conceptual organizer (2011) and aspects of Yosso’s, 2008 community cultural wealth as lens in which to explore the student mentors reflexivity.

·         Contexts in which it is applied

The mentors and mentees are involved in the peer mentorship programme can be described as non-traditional students. They are first generation students; they have English as a second or third language, come from poor schooling contexts and difficult socio- economic backgrounds. Most students are enrolled in courses which are their second or third choices.  The mentees are first year students and the mentors are second or third year students.

·         Description of the content or module in which you may apply the pedagogic intervention.

The peer mentorship programme focuses on provide socio-academic support. Peer mentors assist first year students with issues such as such as time management, note-taking, exam preparation; assignment writing and ICTs. The programme aims to enable students to develop skills, a sense of belonging and peer engagement.

How may you apply it to your own module?

I will change my approach to the mentor training and include a session on how to use blog and how to use the cellular phones and MXit for mentoring purposes. The use of SMS and MXit will allow me explore the nature of the SMS communication on the peer mentoring programme and it affects on e-mentoring.  The use of blogs will highlight the significance of e-training on peer mentorship programmes.

·         What do you think the challenges may be in applying this approach in your own module?

The major challenges I foresee will be whether students have access to the internet on and off campus. Students at CPUT also receive 500 megabytes per month and might run out of credits to use the internet on campus. They might not have air time to SMS or MXit . The duration of the programme is six weeks and students will have to be consistent and committed.  Marks are not allocated to this programme but it serves as an enrichment and leadership opportunity for mentors.

Najwa Norodien-Fataar

                                                                                                                                22 May 2012

First Reflection

FIRST REFLECTION: CHEC COURSE

I provide mentorship training to students and we are engaged in a number of interactive activities such as group discussions, working in pairs and group oral presentations.  I think using technology can deepen students’ participation and enhance the training. During our training workshop I think we need more visual and auditory engagement.

Just recently I came across a you tube video concerning peer mentorship, which I thought students would be able to identify with. The purpose of the video was to allow students to identify with other mentors and to clarify what their roles as mentors are. The video focused on other peer mentors engaged in a similar programme and showed images of students learning and interacting at a University. It also highlighted the lecturers’ views on peer mentorship programmes. I prefer showing short 5-10 minutes video to mentors as the intention of the video is to augment the training workshop rather than a lecture or formal presentation. I also prefer showing videos made by other students so that mentors are able to identify with it.

As a teaching strategy this video enabled me to show the significance of the role of mentors and to explain what mentors should do and how they should participate in the mentoring. Students gave me feedback about what they learnt from the video and highlighted important points made in the video. The video set a positive tone to the workshop.

 I think that it is important to ask key questions to students after the video, e.g.  

·         What are the important points that were relevant to you?

·         What did you find useful in the video?

·         What did you find irrelevant?

·         What did you not like about the video?

·         How could you use the ideas in the video to assist you in your mentoring?

·         For homework mentors could write a summary of the video highlighting the main points.

The mentors are also expected to stay in contact with mentees via SMS or MXit after the training. I would like to incorporate the use of cell phone and MXit in my training. I would like to focus on:

·         The value of using SMS and MXit

·         How to use the SMS or MXit effectively?

·         As mentors is it appropriate to use SMS or MXit anytime ,  anywhere?

·         What tone should one use as mentors in SMS and MXit messages?

·         If mentees do not respond what does it mean?

·         What is the significance of social presence via SMS and MXit?

I would like to explore the nature of SMS contact on the mentoring programme. I would draw from the themes that arose during SMS and MXit contact and highlight the factors that affect their learning. My initial thoughts about SMS and MXit are that this form of communication that would enable mentors to give practical advice, show encouragement that the affective issues are supported and it would ensure that the mentors and mentees feel connected. The messages are instant and mentees would feel more compelled to respond. I intend to have a focus group discussion with mentors to find out what their thoughts are about using SMS and MXit.