Mentors and tutors provide educational assistance to learners. Mentor group support Discussion boards. Mentors respond to learner content questions via public discussion boards. Mentor-facilitated chat rooms run on an ongoing or periodic basis. Things to consider Mentor qualifications.
Some vendors mentor the entire class via discussion boards only.
Other vendors allow each student unlimited emails to a mentor. Responses to questions can range from hours to days. Beware of vendors that don't have response-time requirements. Collaboration Collaborative tools allow learners to work with others synchronously or asynchronously via email, threaded discussions, or chat. In some cases, collaboration is used to create an opportunity for team-based projects.