ABSTRACT
Telementoring involves the use of distance technology to develop the mentoring relationship. Telementoring can use e-mail, text, audio or video conferencing technology, or a combination of these varied means of communication. It has been defined as the ‘use of e-mail or computer conferencing systems to support a mentoring relationship when a face-toface relationship is impractical’ (O’Neill, Wagner and Gomez, 1996:39). This suggests that it is a poorer alternative to traditional mentoring, but there are many people who advocate telementoring as an effective means of achieving a range of educational goals. As with traditional mentoring relationships it may occur naturally or be part of a structured programme (Single and Muller, 1999).
