Definition

Characteristics of Mentorship

Responsibilities

Tips and Tools

A mentor personalizes instruction

As instructors, you recognize differences in your students and understand that individualized instruction is key. Technology allows you to personalize this process without spending more time than necessary. By using collected information from the student profiles in ANGEL as well as customized information that you can collect when you welcome students to class, you can facilitate coaching and accommodate learning styles to individualize instruction. 

Facilitate Coaching

• If assignments and feedback are exchanged via ANGEL dropboxes, instructors will have more opportunities to offer advice to students on a personal level. Your electronic advice to a student will not be lost because both of you will have a record which you can later refer to when checking student work and determining grades.

• Set up a "chat room" in your ANGEL course and make yourself available during certain office hours. If you don't want to go that far, simply announce that you will be checking e-mail and responding to student notes during your office hours. Students who might not normally meet with an instructor face-to-face may feel more comfortable using e-mail or chat.

• Use the survey or quiz tool in ANGEL to administer a background knowledge probe in the first week of classes to assess how much students already know that applies to the course subject. This probe can also check for misconceptions about the subject or discipline, study habits, and learning strategies.

• Use various media to present instruction. Some students learn better by hearing, some by seeing, and some by reading. The ANGEL Course Management System can accommodate graphics, audio, video, and text.