Mentoring online about mentoring : possibilities and practice

Mentoring is most often associated with direct personal contact between individuals. Computer-based learning, on the other hand, is more associated with the impersonal interaction between human and machine. Recent developments in online technology, however, have paved the way for more personal interactions between people via machines. This article reports on the experience of a university professor and her graduate students as they embarked on learning about the very personal domain of mentoring via face-to-face and online learning. The results in terms of student learning, professional practice and mentoring suggest the benefit of utilizing technology as a support and enhancement to direct personal interaction, not replace it.