This document discusses creating student engagement through e-learning faculty mentorship. It notes that online education enrollment is increasing, with 28% of students taking at least one online course. Faculty mentorship is important for supporting online students and can help with retention, feelings of connection, and research productivity if done effectively. Mentorship challenges include a lack of professional development for mentors and unclear written feedback. The conclusion advocates for faculty to provide psychosocial, academic and professional support to students.

1. Creating Student Engagement
Through
E-Learning Faculty Mentorship
Aubrey Statti, Ed.D. & Kelly Torres, Ph.D.

2. Introduction
• Student engagement through technology has
been studied in areas such as social media
(Junco, Heiberger, & Loken, 2010), blended
learning (Morton, Saleh, & Smith, 2016), and
simulated games (Morton, Saleh, Smith,
Hemani, Ameen, Bennie, & Toro-Troconis
2015)
• Technology enhanced learning environments
help promote engagement with students in a
time and place that is convenient for them
(Goh, 2015)

3. Online Education
• 28% of students are enrolled in a minimum of one online course (The Online
Learning Consortium, 2016)
• Student persistence in online classes may be lower than traditional face-to-face
courses
• Students may need extra support in online programs

4. Faculty Mentorship
• Described as creating a zone of
proximal development in which students
receive support based on their current
academic skills and need
• Should be based on trust, integrity, and
opportunity
• Growth of online education has created
the need for mentoring to take place
from a distance

5. Mentorship Benefits
• Helps to provide students:
 Guidance and personal connections that may be necessary for university/college
students’ academic success
 Self-confidence, goals, and continual progression through their academic studies
 Support in the development and enhancement of their graduate and professional
identities
 Positive impact on student:
 Retention
 Connections and feelings towards their education
 Dissertation completion and research productivity
 Potential career advancement.

6. Mentorship Challenges
• Lack of professional development focused on how to become effective mentors
often results in mentors focusing on tasks and roles rather than personalized
student learning (Linden, Ohlin, & Brodin, 2013)
 Professional development training could focus on networking, psychosocial guidance,
and coaching (West, Gokalp, Pena, Fischer, & Gupton, 2011)
• Lack of clarification of written feedback (Kumar, Johnson, & Hardemon, 2013)
 Which may not be unique to online settings

7. Student Engagement
• Online mentoring may be perceived as more effective in synchronous formats
and through the inclusion of multiple forms of technology (e.g., email, telephone,
web-based) (Kumar, Johnson, & Hardemon, 2013)
• Online mentoring provides opportunities for students to access “different
pathways to assess learning processes (O’Brien & Hamburg, 2014, p. 255)

8. Conclusion
• Faculty also need to provide students
psychosocial, academic, and
professional development support
(Kumar, Johnson, & Hardemon, 2013)
• Providing effective mentoring
experiences is the responsibility of both
the faculty and institution

9. References
• Goh, P. (2015). Using a blog as an integrated eLearning tool and platform. Medical Teacher, 38(6), 628-269.
• Hammel, S., Sarkar, N., & Manzo, C. (2015). Proceedings from E-Learn: World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate,
Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education. Kona, HI.
• Junco, R., Heiberger, G., & Loken, E. (2010). The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades. Journal of
Computer Assisted Learning, 27(2), 119-132.
• Kumar, S., Johnson, M., & Hardemon, T. (2013). Dissertations at a distance: Students’ perceptions of online mentoring in a
doctoral program. The Journal of Distance Education, 27(1), 1-12.
• Linden, J., Ohlin, M., & Brodin, E. M. (2013). Mentorship, supervision & learning experience in PhD education. Studies in Higher
Education, 38(5), 639-662.
• Morton, C., Saleh, Smith, S., Hemani, A., Ameen, A., Bennie, T., & Toro-Troconis, M. (2016). Blended learning: How can we
optimize undergraduate student engagement? BMC Medical Education, 16, 1-8.
• O’Brien, & Hamburg, (2014). e-Learning. In F. Garcia-Penalvo, & A. Seoane-Pardo (Eds.), Methodologies and case studies for
successful learning (pp. 249-263). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
• Online Learning Consortium (2016). Report: One in four student enrolled in online courses. Retrieved from
https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/news_item/report-one-four-students-enrolled-online-courses/
• West, I. J. Y., Gokalp, G., Pena, E. V., Fischer, L., & Gupton, J. (2011). Exploring effective support practices for doctoral
students’ degree completion. College Student Journal, 45(2), 310-323.