Before I Take My Classes Online (2 of 3) Posted on January 14, 2015 by A+ Brooke Lester, CuratorFor the face-to-face teacher and learner, entering the online teaching environment is a cross-cultural experience. It’s natural to try to hold on to the familiar, even when aware that this can interfere with a genuinely immersive, transformative experience of an unfamiliar environment. Find your points of discomfort, and ask questions (like those in this blog series) of instructors who already teach online. “But Commmuuunniiittyyy!” “‘Community’ only happens face to face, because of embodiment, and the incarnation.” I don’t know what the secular, non-seminary parallels to this objection are, but I’m sure they exist. But this is how it finds expression in a seminary. I’m going to hit this one pretty hard…
Strange/Familiar/Strange Posted on January 7, 2015 by Kristin Johnston Largen<b>“Strange/Familiar/Strange.”/<b> I got this metaphor from my friend Richard Payne, professor and Dean of the Institute for Buddhist Studies out in Berkeley, California. This is the way he has described the process of coming to understand a different culture and/or religion, and I have been thinking about it a lot since I read it. As you might imagine, the point of this language is to indicate that often, when we are introduced to another religious tradition, it is “strange” to us. Typically, the belief system is very different, with different starting presuppositions than what are found in Christianity, and even different core commitments and values. In addition, of course, many practices are “strange”—devotional practices, rites of passage, rituals and holy days, etc…
The End of (Classroom) Empire(s) Posted on December 16, 2014 by Nathan LoewenAfter reflecting on my own teaching as well as that of others, I don’t see much difference between the one-room schoolhouse and the college classroom. The basic form is often the same: one person teaching a multitude of learners. Even when a so-called “guide on the side” replaces “the sage on the stage,” not much changes. The paradigm of remains that of the teacher as sovereign of the classroom whose tribute is paid to the local institutional empire. I think this age of empire is nearing its end….
Before I Take My Classes Online (1 of 3) Posted on December 9, 2014 by A+ Brooke Lester, CuratorIt may be that you’re already excited about the possibilities of online learning, or maybe find yourself compelled while yet skeptical. Perhaps you have been invited to teach online for the first time…or have been coerced by some means into doing so. Perhaps you have had some experience with online teaching, and it hasn’t worked out well. Whatever your trajectory to this point, you stand at the start of a trek into a foreign land. I frequently tell my learners that reading the Bible is always a cross-cultural experience. Here, I invite you to see online learning and teaching too as a cross-cultural experience—but into a foreign land in which you might elect to establish a permanent residence. Think of it as a second home. Venturing into this foreign country, you’ll naturally be drawn to grasp at any practices or ways of thinking that promise as little change as possible…
What is Sticky Learning? Posted on December 4, 2014 by Holly InglisWhat’s the stickiest thing you can imagine? When you hear the word “sticky,” perhaps you imagine pine pitch, or wallpaper paste, or duct tape, or a burr in your pets’ fur. In the process of remodeling our 1935 cabin we needed to drywall over an existing ceiling. In order to ensure that the drywall stuck, in addition to using drywall screws to secure each piece, we applied construction adhesive. Once the adhesive was applied to the drywall and lifted into place, there was very little time before the piece was permanently fixed in place…