Teacher Candidate Perceptions of Telementoring in Knowledge Forum

摘要

The success of traditional email-based telementoring rests on the ability and nclination of students to maintain open channels of communication with mentors. Telementoring in learning environments (specifically, Knowledge Forum) may offer strategic advantages by making the day-to-day evolution of student investigations more accessible. This paper describes an experiment in which University of Toronto teacher candidates wor ced as Knowledge Forum telementors in four elementary school classrooms. Research findings support the notion that Knowledge Forum provides valuable contextual information for mentors. Additionally, teacher candidates reported that they found the experience of electronically mentoring a Knowledge Forum class to be professionally valuable.