Professional Development - Vol. IV, Part I

algorithm to match over 27,000 mentor relationships since 1997. The organization is
unique because it uses technology to guide relationships between mentors and
protégés. MentorNet focuses on college-level protégés for the 8-month matching
scheme. Another US provider is Chronus who provide eMentoring services across
various sectors from enterprise to non-profit.
An example of an ementoring provider in the UK is Brightside, a non-profit e-mentoring
organization that works with 60 businesses, charities and universities. Brightside has
developed a secure online portal featuring interactive content and resources through
which over 6,000 trained online mentors are connected with over 21,000 young people,
providing them with information and guidance about education and employment. Newer
entrants to the UK market include sfG MentorNet®, which was designed jointly with a
youth-based mentoring charity but which is also now being used by an increasing
number of Careers Departments within UK universities. Others include Aluminati with
their Aluminate eMentoring platform targeted to alumni and students of higher
educational institutions and Mentor Match Me.
e-Mentoring Mediums
ementoring can retain the face to face interaction by utilizing video chat services, such
as FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Skype, video chat through Facebook, etc.
Controversy and Debate
Online mentoring is occasionally compared unfavourably with face to face mentoring.
The medium limits the ability to pick up on visual or social clues, makes immediate
feedback difficult and can often be seen as impersonal.
However, e-Mentoring can make participants more willing to offer honest feedback. It is
also being embraced more readily by those in business who want to become mentors,
as e-Mentoring is less time-consuming than face-to-face mentoring.
Impact
It has been suggested that the quality of the mentoring relationship is heavily influenced
by the amount of common interests that the mentor and mentee have. As such, most
charities and businesses that offer eMentoring programmes require some shared
interest between the mentor and mentee. It is also generally accepted that any
mentoring relationship is most effective during a transitional period in the mentee's life,
such as applying to university or making decisions about future careers.
Ementoring programs also impact beneficially on the motivation of the youth pursuing
post highschool studies. The impression, that is driven from the exchanges with an
ementor working in the field of interests of the youth, of "how important the studies are"
if he wants to get the job he dreams of is tangible
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