Resisting Disembodiment – Distributed Learning is Not Distance Education Posted on December 27, 2013 by Ryan TormaWhen I first started working in online seminary education, my boss explained to me, ‘We don’t do distance education, we do distributed learning.’ Working with her and many other wise leaders, I came to understand what they meant. Distance education implies a learned center from which education radiates out. Online learning technologies allow education to be delivered to people who are distant from that center, but they are distant nonetheless. Distributed learning is something different….
Quite Possibly the Best Resource in Your LMS: Forums Posted on November 17, 2013 by Nathan LoewenOn what side of the flipped classroom do I put my forums? Class forums are butter of how I teach “introductions to world religions”-type courses. Forums help me keep my students as far as possible away from approaching “world religions” as a mind-numbing memorization marathon of beliefs and practices that distances them from thinking critically about religion. Students can do that in an anatomy and physiology class, should they choose to study medicine. I think it’s far more interesting for me and the students to have the intro course engage in the current theoretical and methodological debates of religious studies. My goal is for students to learn how to critically think and discuss with others. . . .
Active and Engaging E-Learning When You’re Limited on Technology. What Are My Options? Posted on October 11, 2013 by Cari CrumlyDespite the somewhat affordable techy options and features available in the educational market today if your school is limited on technology and attempting to stay in pace with the heavily saturated market of online/distant learning, how do you “keep up with the competition?” How do you deliver active and engaging eLearning if you are limited on technology? What exactly are your options?…
Classrooms have Four Walls and Two Portals. Use Them! Posted on August 28, 2013 by Nathan LoewenI remember first being invited into my college’s boardroom for a meeting. I experienced several sentiments. “Wow! This is like being asked to the principal’s office, but in a good way!” And, “Yes! This is like being asked to sit at the cool kids’ table in the high school cafeteria!” I walked in and settled myself into one of the comfy, high-backed leather chairs. I looked around, and was stunned to see something I had always dreamed of having in my classroom: a gigantic LCD screen with a wide-angle video camera. I thought to myself, “Alright! This is like Skype on steroids! How do I get my students in here?”…
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Posted on August 12, 2013 by Jim PapandreaIn ancient Rome, some emperors decided to try to enforce their authority by building a new forum, under their control, with their own statues, and temples dedicated to the gods of their ancestry. Imagine how hard it must have been to get people to stop going to the ancient forum—the one they were used to—and start going to the new one. Now, when the emperors of the classroom (the professors) want to create an online space where meaningful interaction and discussion will happen, what do they do? They build a new forum, in Moodle or Blackboard, and then try to get their students to go there….