Learning via social media has been a revelation.
Sandra enjoyed the learning experience with the mentees as she realized she had a lot more within her to give out and a lot more to learn. Her knowledge has increased because of research she was involved in during the programme. She shares her story.
My name is Sandra Swatson-Oppong. I am into Crop production, and I mentored the Crop Production Group.
Meeting young people who have an interest in Agriculture was a good motivation for me as a young farmer. I gained more knowledge because of doing research for the sessions.
It made me appreciate the role of social media in knowledge transfer especially in this period of COVID-19. It presented me with the opportunity to share my knowledge with people and this made me realize that I have more to give and more to learn as well. The social media platforms that were harnessed for the programme, including Whatsapp, were user-friendly and aided communication flow between myself and the mentees.
However, despite their effectiveness it was difficult to control the conversation because you couldn’t determine when a mentee decided to ask a question during the session so if care was not taken, some peoples’ questions and needs, could be lost in the chats, and not addressed. Some mentees did not seem to understand the concept of mentorship.
In future projects mentees should be coached on the concept and thoroughly interviewed before they are enrolled onto the programme. Additionally, the number of persons assigned to each mentor in future programmes should be reduced to the barest minimum so that the mentor can fully address the needs of the mentees.
Thank you.