Challenges for teaching Theology through technology in Institutions of Higher Learning (original) (raw)
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Web-supported and technology-enhanced learning can be effective in class as well as online. We now teach theology in a technology-saturated world. Technology allows the blending of online and face to face processes in what is sometimes identified as blended learning. Yet learning is always a blend of processes, proclivities, perspectives and personalities. The questions addressed in this paper are: How might we learn to teach more effectively in the classroom based on our experience of technology, particularly online, often asynchronous, methods? And, How does a theological framework help us to shape our understanding and apply our experience?
Theological Educators, Technology and the Path Ahead
Teaching Theology and Religion, 2005
Digital technology offers a host of opportunities and challenges for theological education. In this essay the author considers possible futures for theological education through creative uses of technology. The first half of the essay identifies five areas in which theological educators have had to gain technology skills in the last several years: 1. Individual facility with a personal computer; 2. Functioning capably in a connected world; 3. Information literacy for research and ministry; 4. Technology for face-to-face instruction; and 5. Technology for asynchronous teaching and learning. The second half of the essay identifies the forces that will likely drive technology learning for theological educators in the coming few years: 1. The pressure to meet student expectations; 2. The pressure to enrich the classroom experience by engaging the visual learner; 3. The pressure to enhance the traditional course through richer pedagogical strategies available with technology; and 4. The pressure to offer distance programs.
A Typology of the Use of Technology in Theological Education
Teaching Theology and Religion, 2004
This essay explores the terrain of technology in theological education and offers a typology for how technology is used in seminary contexts. The author surveys 43 seminaries in North America to gain insight into the attitudes of faculty toward the use of technology in their teaching and for use in the preparation of ministers. Reflections on the typology in the concluding section offer fuel for subsequent work on the topic.
Theological Educators and their Concerns about Technology
Teaching Theology and Religion, 2005
Abstract. Based on results from interviews with theological educators at forty-five seminaries in North America, the author begins by listing twenty-six concerns expressed about technology in theological education, particularly the concerns about electronically mediated distance education. These concerns are categorized loosely under three headings: Practical and Personal Concerns, Pedagogical and Educational Concerns, and Philosophical and Theological Concerns. More important than the list is the sociology of decision-making surrounding technology among theological educators. In the final section of the article entitled, “how concerns about technology function within institutions,” the author discusses how it is that these concerns are allowed to function in very different ways across the spectrum of theological education today.
Pharos, 2018
Theological educators are now nurturing dialogue, schemes, and practices that are intended to recognize the myriad of challenges and opportunities resulting in teaching Theology and Religious Instruction in a racially, religiously, culturally and ethnically diverse demographic environment. The article highlights the effectiveness of interactive learning as opposed to direct classical style teaching in Theology and Religious Instruction. The traditional method makes a teacher or lecturer the centre of teaching and learning: the master over didactics and pedagogics. Direct teaching can still be effective in some instances, though research shows that interactive learning promotes students towards self-directed learning. While there are various methodological approaches such as the historical, literary, cultural and traditions based studies approach, teaching about religion is required to convey three central premises of academic education , namely, that religions are within their own dogmas relatively diverse, dynamic and entrenched in a particular ethos. This is where interactive learning becomes important since it is a useful approach. It is variously called computer-based learning, cooperative, blended, active, and collaborative learning. It is deemed as the opposite of passive learning-a pedagogical approach that incorporates social networking and computing into course design and delivery. The primary reasons for applying this method of teaching is to assist with summation, formativeness, and it serves as motivation during the learning processes. In teaching theology, this approach promotes the students' capacity to work independently and cooperatively. It further sharpens and hones excellent teaching abilities and skills. Above all, it develops students into self-directed learners.
This paper is a consideration by reflective review of how the 1990s and early 2000s made a substantial impact on technology in Australian theological education and the lessons to be learnt in the present about technology adoption, influence, and sustainability. It also considers the limitations of the theories of academics Clark and Kozma regarding the dichotomy of the learning designer and the role of technology. When it comes to understanding the environment in which decisions about technology in theological education are made, Clark and Kozma ultimately fail to give due weight to " real world " expediencies. An alternative starting point for a more nuanced perspective is suggested. Methodology Some four pioneers in the delivery of theological education in distance/flexible models in the early 1990s were identified and their stories of technology implementation within their institutions were collected via questionnaire and confirmation review. These reflections were paired with four academics at the beginning stages of significant responsibility for implementing current distance/flexible theological programs. Both sets of reflections were then focused via the Clark (1994)/Kozma (1994) debate regarding the significance of the learning designer role and technology in influencing student learning.