1. coMentor http://comentor.hud.ac.uk A WWW-based multi-user virtual environment to facilitate collaborative learning amongst students. Supported by JTAP

2. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk2 Rationale behind coMentor Developed from the needs of philosophy students - a subject perceived as difficult Need to support debate, discussion, group work, resource sharing and vicarious learning Need to support peer mentoring Need to support part-time and distance- learning students

3. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk3 coMentor Technology MOO adapted to serve WWW pages - looks like a normal Web site, but has multi- user functionality Additional functionality from Java applets and Perl scripts System is accessible over the WWW without special client-side software

4. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk4 coMentor Features Accessible over the WWW without needing to download any special client software Visual and easy to use: looks like a WWW site Real-time discussion (and recording) Email Asynchronous discussion groups Students can easily set up groups and discussion lists and choose who has access Concept mapping tools

5. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk5 More coMentor Features Students can leave and annotate work and choose who can read it Role-playing facility Users have their own home page to record interests and expertise Includes useful text resources Over time, system grows into a repository of resources developed by students Easy administration over the Web

6. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk6 coMentor Screen-shot

7. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk7 Evaluation of coMentor 2nd year philosophy course (106 students) Course redesigned to integrate coMentor The system proved popular with students…...they thought it was easy to use, and they liked the interface …they thought the resource area was useful...94% recommended it should be used with the following year’s students...67% said that they would have used the system more than they did

8. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk8 coMentor Findings The students learned from seeing each other’s work They also learned from having to ‘write’ down and sharing their ideas with others The students attained high levels of deep and strategic learning

9. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk9 What students think about using coMentor... “…an enjoyable learning experience” “coMentor helped me realise where I was going wrong by looking at other people’s work” “I think coMentor is an extremely useful tool” “My experience has convinced me that I do need to be connected to the Internet”

10. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk10 coMentor Development Regular newsletter Expansion of use into other UK HEIs Expansion into new subject areas A multi-course version of the software A mutual support group of coMentor users A hand-book of teaching experiences to illustrate the pedagogic uses of coMentor Collaboration with other successful JTAP- supported projects

11. http://comentor.hud.ac.uk11 How to get coMentor Version 1.1 released October 1999 Free to UK HEIs Download the software from: http://comentor.hud.ac.uk/download.htm coMentor Manual available on-line or to download from: http://comentor.hud.ac.uk/manual.htm

12. 12 Contacts & information Web site: http://comentor.hud.ac.uk Contact: comentor@hud.ac.uk coMentor, Dept. of Behavioural Sciences, School of Human and Health Sciences, The University of Huddersfield, HD1 3DH 01484 473302