Effects of Online Mentoring in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Environments: Mentor Presence and Cognitive Engagement

Abstract

This study examines online mentor roles and effects with the online mentoring process in computer-supported collaborative learning environments in communities of in-service teachers. Interest in the online mentors' activity encompassed their participation in the online interactions, the influence of their activity on participants' patterns of interaction, and their varying facilitating styles. Transcripts of interactions among a small group (n = 8) and a larger group (n = 20) of in-service teachers and their mentors were analyzed at the macrolevel and microlevel: at the macrolevel by Social Network Analysis and at the microlevel by content analysis (Garrison, Anderson, and Archer 2001; Zhu 2006). Based on the analyses, the researchers identified mentor approaches such as interactive and directive. The researchers detected relations between mentor approach and network interaction structures and also between mentor presence and participants' cognitive engagement. Mentoring in collaborative in-service teacher communities was found to be an alternative to the more traditional mentoring dyads.