E-mentoring in physical education: A case study

This chapter discusses lessons learned for e-mentoring from our study as well as the larger literature based on e-mentoring in physical education. Electronic mentoring, or e-mentoring, is a mechanism that can bridge challenges such as physical distance and incompatible schedules. Collectively, the methodologies captured a rich understanding of how e-mentoring both succeeded and failed in supporting teachers in learning the new curriculum. Initial evidence suggests that e-mentoring in physical education might improve both student teaching and new teacher experiences. Mueller. S noted that e-mentoring requires some degree of participant technological sophistication, it may be difficult to cultivate trusting bonds through solely virtual interaction, and e-correspondence can lead to misinterpretation when the common visual and auditory cues of in-person communication are absent. In response, our university partnered with the district to develop a mentoring program that paired fifteen successful Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum (EPEC) teachers with fifteen proteges.