The document summarizes the MDE Buddy Program, which connects new students in the UMUC Master's of Distance Education program with mentors. The program aims to provide learner support from within the MDE program itself. Mentors are either fellow students who have completed at least 2-4 MDE courses or MDE alumni. The program is fully online and voluntary. Interactions between mentors and students take place via the MDE Buddy Program website, which serves as a contact point, blog, Q&A forum, and resource. Based on initial feedback, the program provides support for new students but participation could be increased through expanded resources and promotion.

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UMUC’s Master of Education Graduate Program Introduction
Responding to the growing demand for highly qualified distance education The MDE Buddy Program is:
professionals and the rapid growth of distance education in business, the
University of Maryland University College‟s Master in Distance Education •A learner support program aimed at supporting students new to the UMUC
(MDE) program offers graduate degrees in three specializations: Master‟s of Distance Education program
1. Distance education technology • Providing new students with a peer-mentor who has already completed at
2. Distance education teaching and training least 2-4 MDE courses
3. Distance education policy and management
• An effort to provide students with an enhanced learning experience via the
The program is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. For more information: support of fellow students and MDE alumni who have “been there and done
http://www.umuc.edu/programs/grad/mde/index.shtml that”
And the MDE Hub at: • An action research opportunity which serves as the basis for the capstone
http://mdeprogram.weebly.com research project
• A fully online program: all interactions take place online; from announcing the
program to notifying participants of the mentor or new students they will be
Abstract working with
• Very casual . How often each pair interacts and what they discuss is left up to
them. The reasoning behind this is that adult students know what they need
The MDE Buddy Program connects new MDE Students with mentors who are
and should be able to discuss it between themselves
either fellow (but more experienced) students or MDE alumni, seeking to
provide learner support from within the MDE program itself. This research
•Fully volunteer-run. Cost to the MDE or UMUC: $ 0
project seeks to determine the feasibility of providing online mentoring to
support MDE students” goals.
MDE Buddy Program Website
Background The MDE Buddy Program website serves as an all-in-one contact point, blog,
Q & A, and forum resource for program participants. Here mentors and new
students can find advice on mentoring, resources related to thriving as an adult
Can mentoring by students already successful in the MDE Program or MDE student in a fully online graduate-level program and more.
alumni contribute to new student satisfaction and success in the MDE?
This semester saw the addition of a “Tips and Tools” page.
Seeking to provide program-specific, MDE support for MDE students, Dr. Stella
Porto, MDE Program Director and Professor, offered a MDE virtual internship In general, participants have used the site to sign-up to participate in the
as an opportunity for an MDE student to engage in action research while program and to locate resources. After initial launch and postings the forum
offering MDE students mentoring support that until now was unavailable. and blog have been viewed by students and mentors but there has been little
participation beyond that posted by the program designer and a few MDE
A survey of current literature and students determined that mentor programs alumni.
do work in many situations for many audiences and that students were
interested in participating.
• The student survey revealed:
• A recognized need for support
• Adult learners returning to school after a long break appreciated
knowing how others succeeded, what strategies they used, how others
balance work, family, school and other commitments
• Advice on the online learning environment: what to post in discussions,
concerns about graduate-level writing, how to address instructors with
concerns
• Students were aware support was available through UMUC but were not
always aware of how to access that support
• The literature survey revealed:
• Mentoring programs can be tailored to meet the needs of any audience
(Mentoring.org, 2009)
• , “Online learning provides support in the workings of networks of
individual social actors which function as online learning communities”
(Kehrwald,2007, p. 500).
• Tait categorizes learner support under three areas: cognitive, systemic,
and affective. Mentoring can have positive effects in each area (2003).
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How does the Program work? Student Comments
• “This wasan excellent part of my introduction to online education…I have 5
•Students enrolled in the MDE program are provided with introductory degrees but my last class was 23 years ago. I was paired with a mentor whose
information about the Buddy Program via announcements in the MDE Hub ( a profession and interests were similar to mine and he was very helpful”
central location for all things MDE related), MDE Student Lounge and on the
Buddy Program website prior to the start of the semester. Announcements • “I wish my mentor had been more willing to discuss professional issues. He
also appear in the two most common first classes that students take in the was more interested in helping me edit my papers.”
MDE program
. • “Thank you … for taking the time to talk me through the rough spots this
• Interested students and mentors are directed to the MDE Buddy Program semester. It really helped. I think the program helps distance students who
Web site where they find further information on the program and a contact form might feel kind of, „out there‟”
• Once the contact form is submitted each mentor and new participant are • “I underestimated the time commitment to the MDE program. I‟ve decided to
paired, whenever possible, according to personal interests, hobbies and any drop my classes this semester rather than do poorly in classes. I‟ll take a look
other relevant information they‟ve shared at my schedule and return at a later date. Thanks for your concern and
support.”
• All participants receive an e-mail welcoming them to the program Conclusions & Future Plans
Based on student comments, participation in the program and feedback from
• Once paired with a student or mentor each participant receives a second
MDE instructors the following are plans for the summer session:
“introductory” message, sharing contact and background information for their
new mentor/student
• Continue to update and build up the MDE Buddy Program web site, to
include more links to DE resources outside of the MDE program, and more
• Students are encouraged to interact regularly, to share information and
reminders about what is available within the program
perspectives on what they expect from each other and to share any questions
or comments with the Buddy Program facilitator
• Increased consistency and frequency in updates to the MDE Buddy Program
Blog- including inviting successful MDE students who are not participating in
• Participants receive periodic message about changes to the web site, and
the Buddy Program to make contributions to the Blog, Tips and Tools, and
other relevant information
Mentor Resources pages of the web site. Essentially- making better use of the
wealth of information available through MDE students themselves
Results
• Re-vamping the “Want to Participate?” contact form for participants, asking
Semester Number of Number of Pairs Comments
Participants / Maintaining for very specific information about personal interests, career goals etc. with
Pairs interactions and aim to pairing participants with people who more closely match
Summer 2009 16/ 8 3 3 pairs reported no
interaction beyond • Maintain the casual “feel” of the program while still encouraging (repeatedly)
initial exchange of
messages. Reasons:
that mentors and students exchange information on what their expectations
too busy, are: Advice on courses? Advice on how to juggle demands? A sounding board
Fall 2009 30 /15 5 One mentor dropped for challenging concepts? Writing assistance?
out; personal
reasons, his student
was successfully •Conclusions: Although participation rates were lower than hoped, students
mentored by another who took full advantage of the program were highly satisfied. Given the
mentor . Three
students had to
minimal investment and faculty and administrative support, the Buddy Program
withdraw from provides a relevant and useful learner support for MDE Students
classes. The
remaining 7 pairs
didn’t respond to
requests for
information
Spring 2010 26/ 13 6 Two students
dropped the MDE. 5
pairs did not respond
to repeated requests
for information
Summer 2009: The first running of the buddy program presented unique References
challenges: recruiting mentors required several personal emails to alumni Kehrwald, B. (2007). Supportive social networks: Community based learner support in online
active in the MDE Student Lounge. One pair of two international students was learning. In ICT: Providing choices for learners and learning. Proceedings asciilite
Singapore 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2009 from:
a resounding success. The student repeatedly mentioned how much the
http://www.asciilite.org.au/conferences/singapore07/procs/kehrwald-poster.pdf
support of a fellow non-native English speaker was to her success. Tait, A. (2003). Planning student support for open and distance learning. Open Learning, 15(3),
287-299. Retrieved September 12, 2009 from EBSCO database.
Fall 2009: Recruiting mentors was again a challenge. Mentor recruitment
efforts included personal emails, and recruitment of classmates in MDE Contact Information
classes. Received feedback led to launch of the Buddy Program Blog
Julie Marciel-Rozzi
E-mail: julie.rozzi@gmail.com
Spring 2010: Several students provided significant information in the contact
Skype: julie.marciel.rozzi
form which led to more focused pairings and therefore more successful
MDE Buddy Program Web site: www.mdebuddyprogram.weebly.com
pairings.
UMUC MDE Web site: http://umuc.edu/mde
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