An online peer mentor is a successful student, who is placed in a course that he or she had completed, to serve as a guide for others. The duties of online peer mentors include tutoring students, facilitating discussion, and locating resources, but their most essential function is to model the role of a successful student.
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Online peer mentors are not simply representatives of the instructor but play a very distinctive role as peer mentors in classroom activities, sharing their experience, fostering discussion, and modeling the role of a successful student. In addition, they are asked not to perform any activities pertaining to grading.
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The online peer mentors rely on the special trust that they enjoy in the classroom as peers of the students. Participation in grading would add an unwanted element of tension in their relations with other students. top
Online peer mentors are generally given training in online communication, learning software, and pedagogical technique. Some of them eventually become very expert in understanding the dynamics of online education.
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Most of the time, an instructor will chose a student that has been especially successful to be his/her online peer mentor in the coming semester.
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In addition to having a good knowledge of the course material, an online peer mentor should be comfortable online. He or she will need verbal skills and social sensitivity.
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The online peer mentor and instructor generally work very closely, so good communication between them is essential. At the beginning of a course, they should agree on a division of labor. After that, they should be in touch at least once a week for the duration of the course.
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Online peer mentors are generally paid by the course. Other benefits of the job include an educational experience, an opportunity for greater camaraderie with other students, a chance to get to know the professor, participation in a vital community, and access to job/career opportunities.
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An online peer mentor can obviously save a faculty member a lot of time by taking on tasks such as tutoring individual students and monitoring the class for students who fall behind. If a faculty member is new to online education, an online peer mentor can often help with technical problems. In addition, a course having an online peer mentor in the class can relieve the feelings of isolation that faculty members sometimes feel in an online classroom.
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An online peer mentor can help students in several ways including academic assistance, technical assistance, time management, and advising. In questionnaires, students have emphasized the confidence that comes simply with knowing that somebody available if there are difficulties.
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