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Photograph representing student working on computer. Photograph representing mentor/student relationship using technology. Photograph representing student success in graduating high school and seeking employment.
Project Mission: Mentoring Through Technology to Promote Student Achievement

About E-mentoring Page

An e-mentor is a caring adult who provides friendship, support, education, and encouragement through the use of e-mail.


E-Mentoring and Traditional Mentoring

E-mentoring shares some of the most important traits of traditional mentoring:

  • A caring relationship
  • Fostering of the young person's skills by a more experienced person
  • Ongoing, regular communication
  • Trust, warmth, and support
  • Clear boundaries of the parameters of the mentoring relationship
  • Administration by an organization that oversees the mentoring relationship

E-mentoring differs from traditional mentoring in several ways:

  • Communication occurs mostly through e-mail
  • Relationships are often time-limited
  • Screening and monitoring procedures may differ
  • Mentors can often engage in e-mentoring during their work day
  • E-mentoring offers the convenience of communicating online


Approaches to E-Mentoring

There are several ways to approach e-mentoring. It can be:

  • A situation in which various mentors provide guidance to a group of people. Classrooms sometimes recruit experienced professionals to guide complex school projects.
  • One-to-one mentoring in which each young person has a mentor.
  • Project-based learning in which a mentor works with a student to complete a project.
  • Curriculum-based mentoring in which the teacher posts discussion questions relevant to curriculum for the mentor and mentee to discuss.
  • Unstructured interaction in which mentor and mentee allow the relationship to unfold in keeping with common interests.
  • Any combination of the above.


Connecting to Success E-Mentoring

Connecting to Success is a project that links employed members of a community with students who are at-risk or have disabilities. The model includes:

  • One-to-one mentor matches for the duration of one academic year
  • All mentoring within the context of a school setting
  • Partnerships between schools, communities, and employers
  • Oversight by a program coordinator, teacher, and employer-liaison
  • Only e-mail communication and school-sponsored activities
  • A training manual for coordinators, teachers, mentors, and others
  • A flexible model that can be adapted to the needs of each school
  • A youth development approach to build resiliency and self-reliance
  • Special training for working with at-risk youth and youth with disabilities
  • A career emphasis that seeks to involve business partners in e-mentoring

For further information, please contact Joe Timmons at 612-624-5659 or timm0119@umn.edu.

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This page was last updated on Friday, August 20, 2004.