President's Message

by Erik Palmore, President

Every week I go to the library to work on my coursework, and I pause to think of all my classmates scattered around the country and world sitting down at their computers working on their own ETL tasks. And occasionally when I post to the message boards, I can see that someone else has posted at the same time, as they write their own replies to the topics du jour. Then come group projects where you get to work with each other second-hand through emails and chats...the beeps and blips and other announcements letting you know your peers are knocking on your virtual door, streaming bits of text for your consideration. Out of this game of ping-pong come tangible results, an assignment to submit, and trusted allies in this ETL game.

As students in an online program, it can often seem that you are alone in your conquest for that degree. The ETLSO exists to be a forum different from those created in the virtual classroom; it lets you share ideas, concerns, frustrations, and more. The students that have been in the program for a while might already have a friend in the program they can work with on these matters, comparing notes on classes they share, or asking advice about classes to take. It probably took them some time to build that relationship.

The ETLSO wants to assist in this process where possible. In this issue of our newsletter, while the academic year is still young, we will discuss mentoring. The ETLSO is a great way for those who haven't worked on numerous group projects to make connections with others in the program to address those questions, concerns, and frustrations that we all have.

If you feel this service would be valuable to you, please contact epalmore@gwu.edu for more information.

We are pleased that Assistant Professor Natalie B. Milman, Ph.D., has agreed to let us re-publish her article, What's a Mentor, How to Find One, and More, that appeared in a 2005 edition of our ETLSO newsletter. Her article appears below.

What's a Mentor, How to Find One, and More

by Natalie B. Milman, Ph. D., Assistant Professor

Throughout my academic and professional careers, I have recognized the importance of mentoring having participated in the mentoring/mentee relationship, both formally and informally. However, I cannot say that I always had the nerve to seek out mentors or the know-how, or that in all occasions in which I was assigned a mentor – that it was a good match. Yet, I cannot underestimate the influences of my mentors, past and present, even those that were not the best match for me. All of my mentors have helped shape different aspects of my career in one way or another. In this article, I share some ideas about what a mentor is and how one might find one with the hope that these ideas will assist our Educational Technology Leadership students in their quest for a mentor – if they are seeking one.  READ FULL ARTICLE.

Alumni News

by Erika Gronek, Alumni Liason
 

Homecoming and Colonials Weekend is coming up in October, which means that alumni activities are in full swing. Those of you who graduated in the summer should have received your diplomas by now. Some of you may be receiving e-mails that your Colonial Mail account is to be inactivated or it may be maintained.

Soon, you'll be able to log into the online community (www.alumni.gwu.edu) using your existing CMail/myGW portal username and password. You'll be able to do this after your school clears your record and enters your information into the alumni database, a process that begins immediately after graduation and continues for a couple of months.

New alumni records are entered into the alumni database on a weekly basis, so if you're currently unable to access the online community, please try again in the coming weeks. After November, if you still cannot log on, please contact the Office of Alumni Programs at 202-994-6435, 1-800-ALUMNI7, or alumni@gwu.edu for additional assistance.