Virtual peer mentoring: can we create a community of peer-supported learners?

This paper reports on an investigation into peer mentoring at Northumbria University, the results of which indicated that students would welcome a peer mentoring scheme but that, given the piecemeal nature of contact between mentor and mentee, a virtual peer mentoring scheme was more appropriate than one conducted face-to-face. A concurrent project at Northumbria University was engaged in investigating student use of the University's virtual learning environment, the eLearning Portal (eLP). Results of this project gave some indication of what might inhibit the introduction of a virtual peer mentoring scheme based around the eLP.