| This study analyzed the learning context and process at an after school computer-situated mentoring program at a community technology center. In this program, low-income teenagers worked one-on-one with a volunteer adult mentor on a multimedia (i.e., a website, video, PowerPoint) project. A mentor learning community was designed to provide additional training and support for mentors in the study and was facilitated by the researcher. Data was collected from interviews with the students, transcripts of mentor "learning community" meetings, observations of mentor-mentee collaboration, and resulting collaborated projects over a three-month period in February to May 2005. When examined within the context of cultural historical activity theory, this intensive examination of the tensions and contradictions of the activity system give insight into the challenges in mentoring for the development of higher thinking skills. The findings suggest that while mentors and their mentees worked on developing structured application of knowledge related to the functioning of computer applications, they missed opportunities to develop independent thinking areas, including ethical reasoning, project planning, and evaluation of information. |
