Creating an E-Mentoring Community: How DO-IT does it, and how you can do it, too

Creating an E-Mentoring Community: How DO-IT does it, and how you can do it too is available in HTML and PDF versions. For the HTML version, follow the table of contents below.

This material is based upon work supported by The Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and the National Science Foundation (cooperative agreement #HRD-0227995). Any opinions, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily represent the policy of the funding sources, and you should not assume their endorsement.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to college-bound teens who are smart enough to know they can learn from the experiences of others.

It is also dedicated to mentors who find joy in knowing they've made a difference in a young person's life. These caring adults may mentor a child as part of their relationship as:

a parent who is continually learning how best to guide his or her child toward a happy, self-determined life
a teacher who is learning strategies to apply in the special education or inclusive classroom
a counselor or group leader who is open to new ideas for helping young people become successful adults

The book is written for those who wish to develop an online community that facilitates mentoring, peer support, and other activities to promote academic and career success, social competence, self-determination, and leadership skills for teens with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. Anyone who enjoys hearing about the goals, challenges, efforts, experiences, and insights of young people facing life's challenges will also enjoy reading this book.

Acknowledgments

The Washington State Accessible IT Capacity Building Institute on Policy #188 was funded by Access Technology Services at the University of Washington. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the CBI presenters, attendees, and publication authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Washington.

Accessible Technology Services
University of Washington
Box 354842
Seattle, WA 98195-4842
www.washington.edu/accessibility/
doit.uw.edu/
206-685-3648 (voice/TTY)
888-972-3648 (toll free voice/TTY)
206-221-4171 (FAX)
509-328-9331 (voice/TTY) Spokane

Foreword

We must take control of our own destiny, but we must avoid alienating
those who may be gatekeepers to future success.
— Dr. Lawrence Scadden —

Photo of Six adults sit around a table and raise their glasses for a celebration toast.

Celebrating when DO-IT won the National Information Infrastructure Award in 1995 are (from left to right) Virginia Stern, Director of Project on Science, Technology, and Disability, the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler, Founder and Director of DO-IT, University of Washington (UW); Dr. Lawrence Scadden, NSF Program Officer; Sonia Scadden, Dr. Scadden's wife; Dr. Ray Bowen, Dean of the UW College of Engineering and Computer Science; and Dr. David Burgstahler, UW Accounting Professor.

When and how did I learn to take charge of my own life? People who know me may think that I have always had self-determination: I have had a successful career moving from place to place, job to job, going where there were exciting new opportunities. That was not always the case!

As a teenager, my first love was science and mathematics. I wanted to become a scientist or engineer, but teachers, counselors, and family urged me to reconsider, saying, "There is no place for a blind person in these fields." I believed them. Not until my early twenties did I take charge of my own life and make a plunge into science. I was in graduate school working on an advanced degree in government studies and teaching part-time in a community college when I began taking courses at a nearby college looking for an area of science in which I could make a mark. Human perception was the answer. Most of the scientific literature on human perception dealt with vision, leaving important research on touch and hearing for others, like me. I changed my field, and my life changed forever.

When reading this exciting new volume, Creating an E-Mentoring Community, I recognized that many of the young people who contributed to the book achieved self-determination as teens. Why did they succeed at that age when I did not? Many good reasons explain the difference. In the 1950s when I was a teenager, those of us with disabilities had few role models to look to for guidance, and we had few opportunities to learn and demonstrate our capabilities and interests. Today many opportunities exist, and information regarding successful people with disabilities can be disseminated far more easily than in the past. The young people who contributed to this volume all were involved in exemplary programs that promoted self-esteem and fostered self-determination. Reading about their experiences and examining their advice, I am aware of the similarities and the differences between opportunities of today and those of my era. For instance, the factors that promote success and achieving self-determination are quite similar.

Todd, in an E-Community Activity in Chapter Four, says that one's attitude and personality are key factors for success. I agree even though these personal traits can be pretty rough around the edges sometimes; persistence may be only a shade away from being stubborn or obstinate. A balanced approach in human relations is important, although often difficult to manage. We must take control of our own destiny, but we must avoid alienating those who may be gatekeepers to future success.

Todd and Randy commend their parents for expressing high expectations for them and their lives early on. I do too, but, as this book points out, many people with disabilities achieve self-determination without parental support. It is possible, but it is much easier when one's own attitude regarding future success is learned early from one's family.

Jessie says that successful people need to be resourceful and adaptable. I continue to find that to be good advice every time I tackle a new challenge. People with disabilities are often pioneers, moving into new arenas where few can give advice. We must turn to our own strengths to solve problems of access and to perform tasks independently when necessary.

Randy says that it is important to be resilient. Oh yes! Mistakes, failures, and negative attitudes may seem to be barriers to forward motion, but we cannot let these deter our progress. Resilience is an important trait we need to have working for us all the time.

The primary difference for today's young people with disabilities from that known by those of us from an earlier generation relates to the opportunities and the information available today that promote personal growth. Most of the contributors to this book are participants in DO-IT programs or projects funded by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and the National Science Foundation. Both of these programs are dedicated to giving young people with disabilities the opportunity to learn and to develop skills that will help them find their own accommodations and to be active and productive members of our communities. They learned early in their lives that their abilities are far more important than their disabilities. They serve as role models for each other, but they learn about others with disabilities who have gone before and who are successful in a myriad of careers and avocations. These are experiences and data that combine to produce knowledge, and knowledge is power.

The ideal would be to allow all young people with disabilities to have these opportunities, but that is not the reality. The next best thing is to provide more and more of these young people with the experiences vicariously through sharing the words of many who have had opportunities to participate in these exemplary programs. This volume—combined with the intervention of parents, teachers, and mentors—can provide these vicarious experiences for thousands of other young people with disabilities. Young people are heard sharing their insights and advice on achieving success. All of them have disabilities and have conquered them.

The contributions from these individuals are quite poignant, but the book contains other valuable guides for parents, teachers, mentors, and people with disabilities themselves. The author, Sheryl Burgstahler, has applied her wealth of knowledge and experience gained through years of working with people with disabilities to assembling a wealth of activities that will help all readers to interact with the information presented by the contributors. Readers, then, can take new skills and ideas to help them as they work with other young people who have disabilities.

The book's contributors, along with the author, strongly promote the concept that people with disabilities and their parents, teachers, and mentors all must profess and maintain high expectations for the person with a disability. It was gratifying to read this over and over in the book because it echoes something I have used to conclude dozens of public presentations over the last twenty years. I have numerous opportunities to address gatherings of people with disabilities and others who have contact with them. Often I talk about my own life experiences, urging others to help people with disabilities attain the same success. My concluding remarks frequently follow this theme. Speaking first to people with disabilities, I say, "Come fly with me; let your expectations soar!" Then to their parents, teachers, and counselors I say, "Come fly with them; let your expectations for them soar! Give them the opportunities and the tools to let them achieve their goals." Finally, to everyone else I say, "Come fly with us! Let our expectations for all people with disabilities soar!" This book is a tool that can raise expectations for all readers.

Lawrence A. Scadden, Ph.D.
Retired Program Officer, National Science Foundation (NSF)

Life is a succession of lessons, which must be lived to be understood.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson —

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Table of Contents

Preface

Overview of this Book
History and Current Trends Regarding People with Disabilities
DO-IT
The Role of Technology in Creating this Book
What You'll Find in this Book
How to Use this Book
How to Download or Purchase this Book and Complementary Videos

PART I: Creating an Electronic Mentoring Community

Chapter One: An Introduction to E-mentoring and E-communities

Peer, Near-Peer, and Mentor Support
Computer-Mediated Communication
E-Mentoring Communities
DO-IT's E-Mentoring Community
Joining an Existing Online Mentoring Program

Chapter Two: Steps to Creating an E-mentoring Community

Establish clear goals for the program.
Decide what technology to use.
Establish a discussion group structure.
Select an administrator for the e-mentoring community, and make other staff and volunteer assignments as needed.
Develop guidelines for protégés concerning appropriate and safe Internet communications.
Establish roles and develop guidelines, orientation, and training for mentors.
Standardize procedures for recruiting and screening mentor applicants.
Determine how to recruit protégés.
Provide guidance to parents.
Establish a system whereby new mentors and protégés are introduced to community members.
Provide ongoing supervision of and support to mentors.
Monitor and manage online discussions.
Share resources.
Employ strategies that promote personal development.
Publicly share the value and content of communications in the e-mentoring community and the contributions of the mentors.
Monitor the workings of the e-mentoring community as it evolves. Adjust procedures and forms accordingly.
Have fun!

Chapter Three: Orientation and Training for Mentors

Mentor Tip: Orientation
Mentor Tip: Discussion Lists/Forums
Mentor Tip: Mentoring Guidelines
Mentor Tip: Communication of Emotions
Mentor Tip: Positive Reinforcement
Mentor Tip: Listening Skills
Mentor Tip: Questions for Protégés
Mentor Tip: Disabilities
Mentor Tip: Guiding Teens
Mentor Tip: Conversation Starters
Mentor Tip: "Dos" when Mentoring Teens
Mentor Tip: "Don'ts" when Mentoring Teens

Chapter Four: Introduction to Mentoring for Success and Self-Determination

E-Community Activity: Welcome to Online Mentoring
E-Community Activity: Guidelines for Protégés
E-Community Activity: Safety on the Internet
E-Community Activity: Jessie and Learning Strategies
E-Community Activity: Jessie and Disability Benefits
E-Community Activity: Randy and Proving Yourself
E-Community Activity: Randy and Taking on Challenges
E-Community Activity: Advice from Randy
E-Community Activity: Todd and an Awkward Moment
E-Community Activity: Todd, Family, and Friends
E-Community Activity: Jessie, Randy, Todd, and Success Strategies
E-Community Activity: Jessie, Randy, Todd, and Awkward Situations
Mentor Tip: Success
E-Community Activity: Emulating Characteristics of Successful People
E-Community Activity: Achieving Success
Mentor Tip: Self-Determination
E-Community Activity: Defining Self-Determination
E-Community Activity: Characteristics of Self-Determined People
E-Community Activity: Steps Toward Self-Determination
Mentor Tip: Commitment to Learning
Mentor Tip: Positive Values
Mentor Tip: Social Competencies
Mentor Tip: Positive Identity
Mentor Tip: Self-Development
Mentor Tip: Problem Solving
E-Community Activity: Advice from Teens
E-Community Activity: Success Stories on the Web
E-Community Activity: Affirming Success

PART II: Supporting Teens in an E-Mentoring Community

Chapter Five: Define Success for Yourself

Mentor Tip: Steps to Success
Mentor Tip: Definition of Success
E-Community Activity: Learning from Successful Experiences
E-Community Activity: Finding Your Goals for Success
E-Community Activity: Learning from Teens with Disabilities
E-Community Activity: Learning from Role Models
E-Community Activity: Discovering Academic Success Factors
E-Community Activity: Selecting Your Best Teacher
E-Community Activity: Defining Success
Mentor Tip: Keeping a Positive Attitude
E-Community Activity: Building a Positive Attitude
E-Community Activity: Finding Humor
E-Community Activity: Affirming Success

Chapter Six: Set Personal, Academic, and Career Goals. Keep Your Expectations High

Mentor Tip: Goals
Mentor Tip: Goal Setting
E-Community Activity: Setting Goals
Mentor Tip: Promoting High Expectations
Mentor Tip: Getting Help with Setting Goals
E-Community Activity: Getting Help to Maintain High Expectations
E-Community Activity: Matching Academic Interests with Careers
Mentor Tip: People with Disabilities and STEM
E-Community Activity: Pursuing STEM
E-Community Activity: Considering College Options
E-Community Activity: Making Plans
E-Community Activity: Affirming Success

Chapter Seven: Understand Your Abilities and Disabilities; Play to Your Strengths

Mentor Tip: Disability Acceptance
E-Community Activity: Accepting Disability
Mentor Tip: Labels
E-Community Activity: Trying New Things
E-Community Activity: Identifying Your Likes and Dislikes
Mentor Tip: Incorrect Assumptions
E-Community Activity: Dealing with Incorrect Assumptions
E-Community Activity: Describing Your Disability
E-Community Activity: Dealing with Rude People
E-Community Activity: Thinking about Language
E-Community Activity: Responding to Labels
E-Community Activity: Building on Strengths
E-Community Activity: Redefining Limitations as Strengths
E-Community Activity: Exploring Learning Strengths and Challenges
E-Community Activity: Taking Inventory of Your Learning Style
E-Community Activity: Finding Careers That Use Your Skills
E-Community Activity: Matching Skills with Careers
E-Community Activity: Identifying Your Career Interests and Work Style
E-Community Activity: Healthy Self-Esteem
E-Community Activity: Valuing Yourself
E-Community Activity: Learning to Value Yourself
E-Community Activity: Affirming Self-Value
E-Community Activity: Affirming Success

Chapter Eight: Develop Strategies to Reach Your Goals

Mentor Tip: Self-Advocacy
Mentor Tip: Goals
Mentor Tip: Short- and Long-Term Goals
E-Community Activity: Making Informed Decisions
Mentor Tip: Rights and Responsibilities
E-Community Activity: Knowing Your Rights and Responsibilities in College
E-Community Activity: Securing Accommodations in College
E-Community Activity: Developing Study Habits
E-Community Activity: Creating Win-Win Solutions
E-Community Activity: Changing Advocacy Roles
E-Community Activity: Self-Advocating
E-Community Activity: Self-Advocating with Teachers
E-Community Activity: Disclosing Your Disability in College
E-Community Activity: Disclosing Your Disability to an Employer
E-Community Activity: Advising a Friend about Disability Disclosure
E-Community Activity: Being Assertive
E-Community Activity: Securing Job Accommodations
E-Community Activity: Asking for Accommodations at Work
E-Community Activity: Standing Up for Convictions and Beliefs
E-Community Activity: Learning from Mistakes
E-Community Activity: Affirming Success

Chapter Nine: Use Technology as an Empowering Tool

E-Community Activity: Surveying Accessible Technology
Mentor Tip: Promoting Technology
Mentor Tip: Technology Access
Mentor Tip: Technology and Success in School
E-Community Activity: Becoming Digital-Age Literate
E-Community Activity: Using Technology with Young Children
E-Community Activity: Using Technology for Success in School
E-Community Activity: Using Technology to Complete Homework
E-Community Activity: Using Technology in Science and Engineering
E-Community Activity: Surfing the Web to Prepare for College
E-Community Activity: Using Technology in Your Career
E-Community Activity: Using Technology in Careers
E-Community Activity: Surfing the Web to Prepare for a Career
E-Community Activity: Using Technology to Enhance Your Social Life
E-Community Activity: Affirming Success with Technology

Chapter Ten: Work Hard; Persevere; Be flexible

Mentor Tip: Actions to Achieve Goals
E-Community Activity: Working Hard
E-Community Activity: Coping with Stress
E-Community Activity: Being Flexible
E-Community Activity: Taking Risks
E-Community Activity: Taking Action
E-Community Activity: Learning from Experiences
E-Community Activity: Learning from Work Experiences
E-Community Activity: Understanding the Value of Work Experiences
E-Community Activity: Being Resilient
E-Community Activity: Affirming Success

Chapter Eleven: Develop a Support Network. Look to Family, Friends, and Teachers

Mentor Tip: Teen Support
Mentor Tip: Supportive Environment
Mentor Tip: Self-Determination Support
Mentor Tip: Teen Relationships with Adults
E-Community Activity: Developing Relationships with Adults
E-Community Activity: Working with Adults
E-Community Activity: Participating in Activities
E-Community Activity: Being a Good Friend
Mentor Tip: Friendships
E-Community Activity: Developing Friendships
E-Community Activity: Locating a Career OneStop
E-Community Activity: Finding Resources and Support

PART III: Where to Go from Here

E-Community Activity: Share Your Views on Success
E-Community Activity: Share Your Views on Goals
E-Community Activity: Share Your Views on Abilities
E-Community Activity: Share Your Views on Strategies
E-Community Activity: Share Your Views on Technology
E-Community Activity: Share Your Views on Working Hard
E-Community Activity: Share Your Views on Support Network

Chapter Thirteen: Sample Documents

Sample Mentor Guidelines
Sample Protégé Guidelines
Sample Mentor Application
Sample Parent/Guardian Consent

Chapter Fourteen: Resources and Bibliography

Electronic Resources
Bibliography

Permission is granted to copy these materials for non-commercial purposes provided the source is acknowledged.

Preface

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
— Thomas A. Edison —

We all have defining moments in our lives. However, much of our development comes through small, incremental steps in which friends, parents, teachers, and counselors play roles. As mentors, caring adults may have established long-term relationships with us and promoted our success. Many seemingly inconsequential interactions shaped who we are now and who we will become.

Although most of this networking develops informally, supportive relationships can be intentionally promoted. This book tells how to create and sustain an electronic community designed to support teens with disabilities. Strategies and content can be easily adapted to other populations.

The personal stories, mentoring tips, and activities for teens with disabilities included in this book can be used in an online mentoring community (also called an electronic mentoring community or e-mentoring community) to promote success in school, careers, and other life experiences. It includes steps that lead to a happy, healthy, successful future for anyone, regardless of the presence of a disability. In the community of young people and mentors described in this book, key questions are asked, but simple answers are not provided. It is a place where everyone can find opinions that reflect their own as well as alternative views. Online discussions help participants more fully understand themselves, as well as individuals and systems with whom they interact, as they chart their own course to success.

The set of strategies presented in this book has its foundation in the large body of research and practice in the areas of:

success
self-determination
transition
mentoring
peer support
community building
electronic communication

We know too well that postsecondary academic, career, and independent living outcomes for people with disabilities are discouraging. We often hear about the problems young people with disabilities face—physical obstacles, social rejection, academic failure, unemployment, drug abuse, and medical crises. Much research focuses on identifying these problems and then developing specific strategies for overcoming them. This approach is consistent with research and practice regarding adolescents from other high-risk groups, which concentrate on helping youth avoid identified problems—pregnancy, drug abuse, high school dropout, criminal activity, academic failure, gang membership—or deal with these problems once they exist. In contrast, this book presents strategies that contribute to the overall positive development of youth, which will also help them avoid many types of problems in the future, as well as successfully deal with those they ultimately face.

After all, some people do overcome significant challenges and lead successful lives. What does success mean to them, and how do they achieve it? What internal characteristics do these individuals possess, and what external factors have been present in their lives? What advice do they have for helping young people build personal strengths to overcome the challenges they face now, as well as those they no doubt will face in the future? How can these individuals with relevant insights be brought together with young people with disabilities as they travel the road to adulthood? How can long-term relationships with mentors and peers help young people develop into competent, contributing, and content adults? How can successful strategies be applied in an online forum?

Part I: Creating an Electronic Mentoring Community

PART I of this book, comprising Chapters One through Four, addresses the philosophy and purpose of online mentoring. It tells how to design an electronic mentoring community, recruit and train participants, promote online discussion, and begin to explore the topics of success and self-determination.

The entire content of this book can be found at at the titular page of this book. Use this electronic version to cut, paste, and modify appropriate content for distribution to participants in your electronic community; please acknowledge the source.

Chapter One provides an introduction to the philosophy and purpose of online mentoring and explores its benefits to participants. Along with the complementary video, DO-IT Pals: An Internet Community, this chapter shares the model of the DO-IT online community.

Chapter Two explains a step-by-step process for setting up an online mentoring community where young people are supported by caring adults. A complementary video, Opening Doors: Mentoring on the Internet, reinforces basic mentoring concepts and methods and documents the value of online mentoring for both mentors and protégés. How DO-IT Does It provides the context in which an electronic mentoring community is employed as a strategy to promote the success of people with disabilities.

Chapter Three addresses orientation and training to help new mentors prepare for the unique challenges of online mentoring. It includes email messages for mentors, as well as guidelines to send to new protégés regarding communication and Internet safety.

In Chapter Four mentors and protégés begin to explore the topics of success and self-determination. Five stories of success and self-determination are presented in the video series Taking Charge: Stories of Success and Self-Determination. This chapter introduces the content explored in depth in PART II of the book.

Part II: Supporting Teens in an E-Mentoring Community

PART II of this book is organized around advice synthesized from hundreds of responses from the successful young people and adults with disabilities who contributed to the content. These chapters contain text of messages for the online community administrator to send to mentors and protégés. The administrator can choose from a collection of Mentor Tip and E-Community Activity messages. Note that some of the content is also published in Taking Charge: Stories of Success and Self-Determination (Burgstahler, 2006c) and DO-IT News.

The entire content of this book can be found at Creating an E-Mentoring Community: How DO-IT does it, and how you can do it, too. Use the electronic version of the document to cut, paste, and modify appropriate content and distribute to participants in your electronic community; please acknowledge the source.

In Chapter Five mentors help young people learn to define success for themselves.

In Chapter Six mentors help participants set personal, academic, and career goals.

Chapter Seven tells mentors how to help teens understand their abilities and disabilities and play to their strengths.

In Chapter Eight mentors guide teens in developing strategies for meeting goals.

Chapter Nine helps mentors encourage young people to use technology as an empowering tool.

Chapter Ten tells mentors to remind teens of the value of hard work, perseverance, and flexibility.

In Chapter Eleven mentors explore with teens how a support network can lead to a more successful, self-determined life.

Part III: Where To Go From Here

The final section of this book suggests activities that allow protégés in e-mentoring communities to share their experiences and insights and provides resources for administrators supporting participants in ongoing electronic mentoring communities.

The entire content of this book can be found here. Use this electronic version to cut, paste, and modify appropriate content for distribution to participants in your electronic community; please acknowledge the source.

In Chapter Twelve e-mentoring community members encourage teens to share their insights and experiences on the DO-IT website.

Chapter Thirteen includes sample forms that can be used in your electronic mentoring program.

Chapter Fourteen includes lists of online resources and a bibliography.

An Index can help you locate specific content and activities in this book.

About DO-IT and Funding for this Publication

DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) serves to increase the successful participation of individuals with disabilities in challenging academic programs such as those in science, engineering, mathematics, and technology. Primary funding for DO-IT is provided by the National Science Foundation, the State of Washington, and the U.S. Department of Education. DO-IT is a collaboration of UW Information Technology and the Colleges of Engineering and Education at the University of Washington.

Grants and gifts fund DO-IT publications, videos, and programs to support the academic and career success of people with disabilities. Contribute today by sending a check to DO-IT, Box 354842, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-4842.

Your gift is tax deductible as specified in IRS regulations. Pursuant to RCW 19.09, the University of Washington is registered as a charitable organization with the Secretary of State, state of Washington. For more information call the Office of the Secretary of State, 1-800-322-4483.

For further information, to be placed on the DO-IT mailing list, request materials in an alternate format, or to make comments or suggestions about DO-IT publications or web pages contact:

DO-IT
University of Washington
Box 354842
Seattle, WA 98195-4842
doit@uw.edu
doit.uw.edu/
206-685-DOIT (3648) (Voice/TTY)
888-972-DOIT (3648) (Voice/TTY)
206-221-4171 (Fax)
509-328-9331 (Voice/TTY) Spokane

DO-IT Funding and Partners

Permission is granted to copy these materials for non-commercial purposes provided the source is acknowledged.

This publication is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (cooperative agreement #HRD-0227995; grants #HRD-9255803, #HRD-9550003, and #HRD-9800324). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, and you should not assume their endorsement.

Creating an E-Mentoring Community - PDFs

Introduction - 1759 KB

Includes:

Dedication
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Table of Contents
Preface
Overview of this Book
History and Current Trends Regarding People with Disabilities
DO-IT
The Role of Technology in Creating this Book
What You'll Find in this Book
How to Use this Book
How to Download or Purchase this Book and Complementary Videos

Chapter One - 1385 KB

Includes:

PART I: Creating an Electronic Mentoring Community
Peer, Near-Peer, and Mentor Support
Computer-Mediated Communication
E-Mentoring Communities
DO-IT's E-Mentoring Community
Joining an Existing Online Mentoring Program

Chapter Two - 1125 KB

Includes:

Establish clear goals for the program.
Decide what technology to use.
Establish a discussion group structure.
Select an administrator for the e-mentoring community, and make other staff and volunteer assignments as needed.
Develop guidelines for protégés concerning appropriate and safe Internet communications.
Establish roles and develop guidelines, orientation, and training for mentors.
Standardize procedures for recruiting and screening mentor applicants.
Determine how to recruit protégés.
Provide guidance to parents.
Establish a system whereby new mentors and protégés are introduced to community members.
Provide ongoing supervision of and support to mentors.
Monitor and manage online discussions.
Share resources.
Employ strategies that promote personal development.
Publicly share the value and content of communications in the e-mentoring community and the contributions of the mentors.
Monitor the workings of the e-mentoring community as it evolves. Adjust procedures and forms accordingly.
Have fun!