Technology Mentorships in Higher Education: An Optimal Match for Expanding Educational Computing Skills

This paper explores mentorship as a way for college faculty to expand educational computing skills. A technology mentorship program developed at Iowa State University involves pairs of faculty members (who volunteer for the program) working with graduate student mentors; the goal of the mentorship is to provide technological knowledge and skills, to integrate the new learning in a professional context, and to reflect on the learning process. The mentorship involves weekly meetings over one semester and has an established agenda. Both mentor and mentee must be willing to engage in personal learning experiences that reflect differences in rates of learning. The paper cites many excerpts from reflective journals maintained by mentor and mentee throughout the semester; they examine building personal knowledge and skills, integrating new learning into a professional context, reflections on the learning process, and reflections on the computer technology mentorship. The paper argues that in encouraging faculty to use technology in teaching, one-on-one mentorships can be cost-effective, personally rewarding experiences. (Contains 35 references.) (CH)