Telementoring and WEBCT : supporting students at a distance

There is a widespread recognition that mentoring programs aimed at first year students will help to reduce student attrition rates and improve academic performance amongst this group. This paper will look at a mentoring program developed to support distance education students enrolled at Central Queensland University. The history of this program and factors that affect its success are discussed. The recent adoption of online technologies provided by the learning management system, WebCT, has provided new opportunities for communication and community building for volunteer mentors in this program. Issues raised and the potential to extend the use of WebCT to other aspects of support for distance education students are discussed.