Hi David, let me see if I can respond to your questions re: AlphaRoute.

AlphaRoute has been, until fairly recently, an online literacy resource
mostly limited to the province of Ontario. It is gradually being rolled
out nationally & my college has been a bit of a pioneer, pilotting it in
the province of BC. Our students have really enjoyed their AlphaRoute
involvement. Our experience indicates that as long as the mentor has a
positive attitude towards learning with the computer, the learner
welcomes the computer as a learning tool.

The mentors for our project have all been volunteers. We provide a
half-day training session (either in small groups or one-to-one) & then
we support the mentors mostly by email or phone afterwards. Each learner
is paired with one mentor, although occasionally a mentor will support
more than one learner. The mentor usually tries to meet with the learner
(in person) once a week, & then responds to messages, marks completed
assignments, & gives feedback by email. Of course, they also provide
that essential 'soft' support: encouragement, problem-solving, &
modelling good learning behaviour. Sometimes they use the phone.

(In Ontario, it's my understanding that instructors in literacy programs
provide the mentorship role to a group of their students, as a part of
their paid work.)

You asked: what else does this system need in order to function well at
a distance? I think if the learner already 'has a life' online (e.g.
checks email regularly, uses a webcam perhaps, chats with friends), then
they would be able to participate in a supportive relationship with
their mentor online. But it takes a while for some learners to get that
comfortable with the technology. The technology really has to become
transparent for them (or for anybody!) before they can "feel" the
support, encouragement etc. through/in spite of the medium. Just my
opinion, of course -- but if the learners don't feel a support network,
many of them will fail to persevere. That distance support network has
to become tangible. 

You also asked: Why couldn't friends and families of learners enroll
together (i.e. to build & extend the learning community)? Well, of
course they COULD! It's just... I think this is an area that's not
researched well enough yet. How do we develop, promote, & extend online
learning communities for literacy-level students? How do we create an
online "sense of place" & provide an effective, warm online support
system?

Gina


>

> -------------------

> Gina Bennett

> eLearning Support & Coordination

> College of the Rockies

> Box 8500

> Cranbrook, BC  V1C 5L7

> 250.489.8287

>