Abstract:

The paper describes the experiences of a peer mentoring programme for master’s students of information technology enrolled in their final semester in 2020 at the Eastern Institute of Technology polytechnic during the Covid 19 lockdown. The lockdown imposed many challenges to our education in NZ. It was sudden and therefore left little time to prepare. Our master students had 3 classes for their final semester. All classes were moved to online teaching within one week.

The students were contacted and classes resumed via Skype, Google meet and Zoom. The structure of the class, the timing of the class and the approach to teaching was changed. Apart from support by the lecturers and supporting services students also had support from a peer mentoring programme. Students had two roles: they acted as mentors to new students starting their postgraduate programme at the EIT and as a mentee in their own master’s programme. This was the first time that we introduced master students mentors to help students with the transition from level 8 postgraduate study to level 9 master study.

The perspectives of the lecturers and students are presented and discussed. The challenges and benefits of e-mentoring were identified as well as possibilities for future improvements.

Keywords:

International education, e-mentoring, Covid 19.