Abstract:

Tools such as the World Wide Web (WWW) and other computer-related utilities (e.g. the TAMP website) would be useful in further enhancing the process of mentorship, bridging the gap between skilled, experienced, knowledgeable individuals, and those who can benefit from these collective qualities when shared. Mentorship has the special ability to give participants the opportunity to share knowledge, develop skills, and to grow. This paper will share a story of using a website to conduct a mentorship programme called the Technical Application Mentorship Programme (TAMP) for the learners in the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT).

TAMP mentors are trained senior learners, who assist junior learners (mentees) with computer programming languages like COBOL, C++, JAVA, and VB.NET. The use of technology gives the programme the advantage of having a self-service setting, with mentees being able to login, diarise mentorship sessions, provide feedback, and also to plan their activities effectively. The paper will demonstrate how technology, more especially WWW tools, can help in implementing educational programmes aimed at improving each mentee’s performance and promoting e-Mentoring.

e-Mentoring or virtual mentoring can be explained as a process where a mentee and a mentor communicate via the web in order to solve certain problems. Based on TAMP’s website experience, the paper will further caution on the functionality that should be avoided when developing such mentorship WWW tools, and over and above the disadvantages of using these kinds of tools.

Keywords:

Mentoring, e-Mentoring, virtual mentoring, TAMP.