Pathfinder E-Learning Mentors
Pathfinder Project background
Over the three year period (2005-2008), as part of the Higher Education Funding Council for England's ten-year e-learning strategy, the Higher Education Academy, in partnership with the JISC, is leading two related e-learning initiatives, a sector wide Benchmarking of e-Learning Exercise and Pathfinder Programme. The Pathfinder Programme is intended to be a transformation initiative which has organisational change / development and dissemination to the sector as its raison d'être. The emphasis of the Pathfinder Programme is to provide the higher education community with transferable and scaleable examples of the large-scale activities necessary to enhance learning and teaching using Information and Communication Technologies within the day-to-day life of an institution. It is primarily not about developing new technical solutions: it is about developing the organisational and pedagogical contexts and processes necessary for the current and emerging technology to be employed in a way that is directly effective in achieving positive learning outcomes. The innovations in the programme would be expected to be in the organisational and pedagogical practices that determine how technology-enhanced-learning is used to provide students with positive learning experiences, rather than in the technical infrastructure, delivery platforms or software applications per se.
28 Pathfinder projects have been funded across the HE sector.
University of Wolverhampton Pathfinder Project
This project builds upon work underway at the University in embedding the use of electronic personal development planning (ePDP) with our learners. The aim of the Pathfinders project is extend the use of ePDP across all of our 10 Schools in core Level 1 modules. A key aspect of this project is the appropriate design of ePDP tasks which mesh with the learning outcomes of each module. In addition, there is a staff development aspect in that module leaders and teachers in many Schools will, through the project, become familiar with the uses, issue in, and benefits of, ePDP.
The aims of this Pathfinder project are:
· to strategically affect improvement in the quality of student learning through integrating the processes of PDP using ePortfolio.
· to create a model for the professional development of staff in best practice for curriculum design to ensure appropriate blended uses of e-Portfolio for PDP
· to embed appropriate uses of e-Portfolio tasks in at least 20 University core Level 1 modules, (for example as a tool for reflection on learning, personal and professional development, and / or for early formative assessment)
· to evaluate the (i) professional development model, and (ii) learners’ perceptions of the value of their situated use of ePortfolio based PDP tasks,
· to disseminate the outcomes of (iii) and (iv) above across partners and the sector.
E-Learning mentors
The Key role within this project is that of E-Learning Mentors. This role is based on the concept of developmental mentoring as outlined by Megginson et al (2006):
Developmental mentoring:
• The mentor is more experienced in relevant issues
• There is mutual growth
• The mentor helps mentee do things for themselves
• The mentor helps the mentee develop their own wisdom
• The mentor helps the mentee towards personal insights to steer their own development
• The Primary outcome is personal development
• Good questions are central to the experience
• That social exchange emphasises the learning experience
The mentoring experience works through 5 phases
1. Building rapport
2. Setting direction
3. Progression
4. Winding up
5. Moving on
To be an e-Learning mentor would therefore require someone to be:
· A user of ePDP, preferably with PebblePad
· Willing to work as a member of various teams – Pathfinder Project, e-Learning Mentor, School-based
· Have good communication and questioning skills
· Willing to reflect on and develop their own personal plans.
E-Learning mentors tasks and responsibilities
1. To undertake the role of developmental mentor within the school, working with designated level 1 teaching staff
2. To develop and enhance technical and pedagogical expertise to effectively undertake the mentor role
3. To attend and actively participate in all training and development activities relating to this project
4. To actively participate in a reflective collaborative web folio on the role of e-Learning mentors that would be shared with both internal and external members of the Pathfinder project
5. To keep a reflective personal web folio on the role of e-Learning mentor to be shared with internal members of the Pathfinder project
6. To submit any required records or evidence
7. To keep to project deadlines
8. To undertake other activities that maybe required by the project manager.